Written by Avery Moud<\/p>\n
Oscar Wilde once said, \u201cUltimately, the bond of all companionship, whether in marriage or friendship, is conversation.\u201d Communication plays a vital role in relationships, particularly as we age, and cannot connect with people in the same ways we once could. Everyone wants to be able to communicate their needs, enjoy conversation with loved ones, and continue to live independently in old age. Older adults can face communication challenges that develop from muscle atrophy and cognitive decline that come with typical aging or events like trauma (aphasia due to stroke), overuse (voice disorders), and onset diseases like Parkinson\u2019s Disease, dementia, Lyme disease, or ALS. Swallowing function may decline as well, which if not treated, may result in aspiration. These challenges can typically be overcome through speech therapy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Speech, voice, and swallowing therapy can be performed in various settings including long-term care facilities, homes, and even hospitals. When accessed, speech therapy can provide communication devices, improved voice quality, improved speech, and decreased risk of aspiration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According to a study conducted by the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre, \u201cInterpersonal communication has the potential to disseminate dementia risk reduction information to, and promote behavior change among, a broad group of people at risk of dementia, thereby increasing equity in dementia risk education\u201d (Fair et al., 2022). Seeking treatment for not only communication disorders, but also hearing and vision loss, can significantly decrease dementia risk.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What are the signs that you might benefit from therapy?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n How can these resources be accessed?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The loss of communication abilities is often one of the most discouraging things about aging. Tom, a man who received his Parkinson\u2019s diagnosis over 20 years ago relates to this sentiment. He says, \u201c<\/span>Of all the symptoms that Parkinson\u2019s disease has presented <\/span>the deterioration of my speech has been the most difficult for me to handle\u201d (<\/span>Speech<\/span><\/i> Therapy Testimonials – Open Lines<\/span><\/i>,<\/span> 2023). Accessing speech therapy was a<\/span> game-changer for Tom and he owes his ability to communicate through speech to his<\/span> therapist. This is just one story of how speech therapy has changed someone\u2019s life.<\/span> Yours could be next!<\/span><\/p>\n References\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.). <\/span>Frequently asked questions about voice therapy<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.asha.org\/slp\/clinical\/frequently-asked-questions-about-voice-therap y\/\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Fair, H., Klekociuk, S. Z., Eccleston, C., Doherty, K., & Farrow, M. (2022). Interpersonal communication may improve equity in dementia risk education. <\/span>Health Promotion Journal of Australia<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>34<\/span><\/i>(2), 561\u2013569. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/hpja.602\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Med1Care Home Health Care & Staffing & Med1Care Home Health Care & Staffing. (2023, March 8). <\/span>6 Signs you need a speech therapist as a senior<\/span><\/i>. In Home Health Care|Aides Toledo,Findlay Ohio|Med1Care.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Written by Avery Moud Oscar Wilde once said, \u201cUltimately, the bond of all companionship, whether in marriage or friendship, is conversation.\u201d Communication plays a vital role in relationships, particularly as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25471,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[86857],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1004264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gero-student-focus"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/pruettgerontology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/pruettgerontology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/pruettgerontology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/pruettgerontology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25471"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/pruettgerontology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1004264"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/pruettgerontology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1004265,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/pruettgerontology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004264\/revisions\/1004265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/pruettgerontology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1004264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/pruettgerontology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1004264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/pruettgerontology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1004264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n