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The term primary progressive aphasia (PPA) describes a group of neurodegenerative disorders with predominant speech and language dysfunction as their main feature. There are three main variants - the semantic variant, the nonfluent or agrammatic variant and the logopenic variant - each with specific linguistic deficits and different neuroanatomical involvement. There are currently no curative treatments or symptomatic pharmacological therapies. However, speech and language therapists have developed several impairment-based interventions and compensatory strategies for use in the clinic. Unfortunately, multiple barriers still need to be overcome to improve access to care for people with PPA, including increasing awareness among referring clinicians, improving training of speech and language therapists and developing evidence-based guidelines for therapeutic interventions. This review highlights this inequity and the reasons why neurologists should refer people with PPA to speech and language therapists.

Semantic dementia causes progressive communication difficulties that significantly impact on the person and their family. There is a paucity of research examining conversation skills in this condition and associated interventions to support interaction, such as life-story work. This study used a multiple case study design to: (a) explore the everyday conversation experiences of five individuals with semantic dementia and their spouses; and (b) examine how intervention using interaction-focused life-story work could support communication needs. A total of 74 home visits were conducted over a longitudinal period. An innovative combination of conversation analysis of video and audio data alongside biographical interviewing was used. Information derived from these strands was utilised to design an individually tailored life-story intervention. Cross-case analysis examined the contribution of life-story work to interaction and other aspects of care. Results showed that a range of challenges and skills were present within conversation. Life-story work was delivered in all cases using a variety of formats and the work could be conceptualised under various points of connection: interactional, emotional, new, practical and future. Detailed assessment was important to define aims for intervention and appropriate format(s) for life-story work for the individual concerned. Outcomes for communication in this study were not solely about supporting the telling of facts about the person's life but represented a broader focus to facilitate embodied and emotional connections. This study demonstrates that creativity within life-story work is important to foster social interaction, beyond information exchange, using both verbal and non-verbal behaviours. In addition, video data show promise for exploring in-the-moment outcomes for research and practice, particularly to capture the non-verbal dimensions of this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Semantic dementia is a rarer dementia, classified as a type of frontotemporal dementia and a variant of primary progressive aphasia. Studies examining conversation in this condition and interventions to enhance participation in family life present as gaps in the research literature. Methods: Working with one family on a longitudinal basis, this study used conversation analysis and narrative analysis to provide a detailed assessment of communication. This information was used to design an individually tailored life story intervention to facilitate family interaction: a co-produced life story music DVD. Results: This intervention offered the family a resource that allowed the person with semantic dementia to display areas of retained competence and enhanced participation in interaction in a way that was not typically present in everyday conversation. Conclusions: It is argued that fostering greater opportunities for such in-the-moment connections is an important goal for intervention, particularly when language may be significantly compromised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]