Hersh Deborah
a Speech Pathology, School of Medical and Health Sciences , Edith Cowan University , Perth , Australia.
Int J Speech Lang Pathol. 2018 Feb;20(1):39-43. doi: 10.1080/17549507.2018.1397749. Epub 2017 Nov 16.
This commentary marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by examining Article 19 and its application to people with aphasia. This group of people still face lack of access, stigmatisation, exclusion, disadvantage and social withdrawal as well as poor public awareness of aphasia and inadequate prioritisation of support and resources. Nevertheless, a range of creative initiatives at individual, healthcare, local community, national and global levels have helped to connect and empower people with aphasia. Such initiatives include provision of accessible information in a range of media, inclusion of people with aphasia in decision-making and as research partners, awareness raising campaigns to counter attitudinal barriers, organisation of community aphasia groups, development of guidelines for best practice, national aphasia associations and international collaborations such as Aphasia United. While ongoing work and resourcing is needed to expand these efforts further, they have helped people with aphasia to be heard and to protect their sense of dignity which underlies human rights. A human rights approach can unite, politicise and refocus these efforts, and highlight the essential role of communication in fostering a better quality of life.
本评论文章通过审视《世界人权宣言》第十九条及其对失语症患者的适用情况，纪念《世界人权宣言》发表70周年。这一群体仍然面临着获取信息困难、遭受污名化、被排斥、处于不利地位和社会退缩等问题，同时公众对失语症的认识不足，对支持和资源的优先重视不够。然而，在个人、医疗保健、地方社区、国家和全球层面开展的一系列创新举措，有助于联系失语症患者并赋予他们权力。这些举措包括通过多种媒体提供无障碍信息、让失语症患者参与决策并作为研究伙伴、开展提高认识运动以消除态度障碍、组织社区失语症团体、制定最佳实践指南、成立国家失语症协会以及开展诸如“失语症联合”这样的国际合作。虽然需要持续开展工作并提供资源以进一步扩大这些努力，但它们已帮助失语症患者的声音得到倾听，并保护了作为人权基础的尊严感。人权方法可以将这些努力联合起来、使其具有政治性并重新聚焦，还能凸显沟通在提升生活质量方面的重要作用。
