Perception of Spoken Communication by Elderly Chronically Ill Patients in an Institutional Setting

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the perception of elderly and chronically ill patients regarding the spoken communication that occurs in a long-term care institution. Twenty-four patients were given a focused semi-standardized interview to investigate their perception of how much they talked, their communication partners, where they talked, their topics, their desire and enjoyment in talking, factors affecting communication, and suggestions for improving the communication atmosphere in this setting. Results indicate that communication is limited in quantity and scope, though elderly patients desire communicative interaction. The results of the study are explained from two perspectives-how the patients themselves contribute to the limited communication and how institutional life restricts interaction. Implications for the speech pathologist are given.

An analysis of the communication of adult residents of a long‐term care hospital as perceived by their caregivers

“…A comparison of the present results with other published data about communication in elderly people (Lubinski et al, 1981;Shadden, 1988;Lomas et al, 1989;Jordan et al, 1993) emphasises the fact that the communication acts specific to daily life situations are typical of everyday routine in a long-term care hospital, and are not reported as typical communication of community-living elderly or aphasic people. The expression of needs and preferences in relation to daily life situations are not reported as the content of communication in any of these previously cited studies.…”

Windows to their World: The Effect of Sensory Impairments on Social Engagement and Activity Time in Nursing Home Residents

“…-Constructing a variable representing adequate or inadequate communication abilities was more challenging than constructing variables for vision or hearing. Consistent with Meyerson (1976) and Lubinski, Morrison, and Rigrodsky (1981), we hypothesize that "adequate" communication incorporates both the ability to produce verbal speech as well as the capacity to make one's speech understood by others. If, for example, a nursing home resident can produce sound verbally, but not make him/ herself understood by peers and staff, the ability to make these sounds would not enhance this resident's level of functioning with respect to the outcomes of interest in this study.…”

“…H EARING, vision, and communication abilities play important roles in older adults' capacity to develop and maintain relationships, to participate in activities, and to preserve a healthy sense of self and well-being (Heinemann et al, 1988;Horowitz, 1994;Lubinski, Morrison, and Rigrodsky, 1981;Marx et al, 1992;Meyerson, 1976;Rudberg et al, 1993;Weinstein and Ventry, 1982). These abilities provide a "window" through which older adults give and receive information.…”

“…Nursing home residents must be able to express needs to staff and to share experiences with one another. Lubinski, Morrison, and Rigrodsky (1981) explain that "The communicator chooses a system (means) to send his message -he may speak/write, gesture, sign, and so forth . .…”

Therapy with the Elderly

“…In addition, within nursing homes there is a lack of privacy for residents, which inhibits them from engaging in intimate conversations with one another. In a study conducted by Lubinski, Morrison and Rigrodsky (1981), residents stated that they were inhibited about talking due to being selective about their conversational partner, lack of privacy, adoption of patient role, and inactivity.…”