Educational Support Group Program for Bilingual and Spanish-speaking Carepartners and People With Progressive Aphasia

Two educational/support group routes will be offered: 1. Progressive aphasia (PA) educational/support group or 2. Caregiver educational support group with an implementation phase (including their partner with PA). The caregiver educational support group path will be delivered in two phases, whereas the PA educational support group path will only consist of the first phase. The first phase of the caregiver educational support group will focus on the educational support group and the second phase will consist of implementation and practice of strategies with feedback provided by the clinician. The educational/support groups (Routes 1 and 2) will include opportunities for discussion of issues related to language-led dementia or progressive aphasia (e.g., coping with changes in cognition and language, use of strategies for effective communication) and education regarding the disorder provided by relevant experts (e.g., speech-language pathologists, licensed professional counselors), separately for carepartners and individuals with progressive aphasia. The implementation phase (Route 2, only) will allow for practice of strategies and skills learned in the first phase. The total amount of time participants will be involved in the study will be 9 months, inclusive of follow-up. Phase 1. Timeline for the support group portion of the study: Participants will complete pre-treatment measures during a period of 1-2 weeks prior to their first meeting. After four months of twice monthly meetings, post-treatment measures will be completed within 1-2 weeks of treatment completion. Follow-up evaluation will take place at 3-months post-treatment. Phase 2. Timeline for the implementation/dyad training portion of the study: Post-treatment assessment from Phase 1 will serve as pre-treatment assessment for Phase 2. Treatment sessions will be held once weekly for 4 weeks, and post-treatment assessment will be completed within 1-2 weeks of phase 2 treatment completion. Follow-up evaluation will take place at 3-months post-treatment.