[Improved care for the aphasic patient: introduction to the central theme of aphasia].

The Dutch Hart Foundation has as one of its major goals the furthering of revalidation of hart patients as well as patients with cerebrovascular illnesses. Since many of these latter patients suffer from aphasic disturbances, the CVD-committee of the above mentioned foundation has, in co-operation with the Dutch Society for Neurology, investigated the possibilities of improving the treatment of these disturbances. A systematic improvement of this treatment depends on the ability to measure it. Therefore, the foundation has invited a number of prominent researchers in this area for a workshop in August 1979 posing the question whether and if so how the severity of aphasia can be measured. The lectures of this meeting, including the discussion, are published in this issue.