Communicating with the elderly: Ageism and "elderspeak"

Abstract

Objectives: In today's ageing society, various forms of discrimination arise based on prejudices about age. One of these forms, the elderspeak, directly affects health workers, for whom communication is a central element.  This paper analyses from a qualiative approach the research made on this form of addressing them and the effects it has on their health.

Structure: The first part deals with ageism as a form of discrimination based on age. Subsequently, the analysis focuses on elderspeak and the negative impact it has on the patient's health. Finally, a pedagogical proposal is made in which some formative measures are outlined that could help to put an end to these microaggressions.

Results: Ageism and elderspeak are aggressions to patients with a negative impact on their health and cognitive performance. While linguistic accommodation is a fundamental strategy, an imbalance in this adaptation of speech based on ageist approaches have negative consequences in the elderly.

Conclusions: The truly effective accommodation, not perceived as humiliating, was the one adapted by means of syntactic simplification, adjusted semantic elaboration and neutral prosody. Therefore, it is nowadays undeniable the need for an appropriate incorporation of communicative training in the formative process of personnel in this area. Instructing on how to find the necessary balance in the linguistic accommodation in favour of a more effective communication in which the elderly is seen as a capable patient.