Written news media coverage of aphasia: an update

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Awareness and knowledge of aphasia amongst the general public and news items about aphasia remain limited. Written media is reportedly an important means of hearing about aphasia and encourages the public to donate to health-related charities. The extent and nature of the written media coverage of aphasia has been infrequently investigated. Aims This study aims to investigate the quantity and nature of aphasia-related news items in the written media in 2019 in comparison to the years 1999 and 2009 and compared to news coverage of Parkinson’s disease. Methods & Procedures Written news databases of English-language national and regional newspapers were searched for the terms “aphasia” and “dysphasia” for the year 2019. The results were compared to previous analyses for the years 1999 and 2009 and also to news items on Parkinson’s disease. Outcomes & Results The number of news items on aphasia in 2019 has hardly changed from 2009 although personal stories were more frequently reported. About a third of items did not provide details of aphasia but inaccurate definitions had decreased since 2009. Recovery continues to be described as “complete” or “full”, thereby fitting the typical illness narrative. Speech and language therapy involvement was rarely noted. Aphasia was reported in news items almost 69 times fewer than Parkinson’s disease, despite similar prevalence. Conclusions Despite the increasing focus both in research and health services on aphasia and its effects, there has been limited change in the written news coverage over the last two decades. This mirrors the recent survey showing no increase in public knowledge of aphasia over 16 years. Strategies, both small and local and large and far-reaching, are suggested to increase the written news media coverage (and thereby public knowledge) of aphasia.