The Roots of “Glista and Pollens”: Relationship-Centered Care in an Aphasia Program

This retrospective clinical seminar will explore the creation of the dynamic university-based Aphasia Communication Enhancement (ACE) Program at Western Michigan University through the collaboration of Sandra Glista and Robin Pollens. The frameworks that impacted the program's formation from 2003 to 2006 will be highlighted. The contributions of the Life Participation Approach to Aphasia and the World Health Organization-International Classification of Functioning will be reviewed. Relationship-centered care (RCC) will then be presented, including (1) corresponding ACE program curricula or activities that exemplify the three RCC dimensions, and (2) contemporary research. The principles of the first dimension, “practitioner-patient relationship,” will be discussed as applied to interactions with clients, family members, and graduate student clinical education. “Practitioner-community relationship” will then be described. The third dimension, “practitioner-practitioner relationship,” explores the collaborative relationship between the two practitioners, Sandra Glista and Robin Pollens, and the values that facilitate interprofessional relationships. This article concludes with implications for the RCC framework as an additional perspective for aphasia program development and for the provision of clinical services for individuals with aphasia and their support partners.