**The following post is authored by Natalie Langley, MSW, who came to us from the Alzheimer's Association.  She is working on SCANS (for more on SCANS, please see Eric's blog by clicking here) and will be a 'guest blogger' from time to time.**

Ever hear people call older adults “sweetie” or “honey”?  Working in health care settings before, I often heard staff using words such as these when talking to residents.  While most people have good intentions and they believe they are just being kind to residents when talking with them, research has now shown that talking to older adults with Alzheimer’s disease residing in nursing homes in a childlike manner are more likely to receive resistance from the residents. 

Colleagues at the University of Kansas School of Nursing have found there is a correlation between how nursing home staff communicate with residents who have dementia and residents’ subsequent resistance to care.  The researchers have coined the term “elderspeak” as talking to residents in an overly caring and controlling manner.  In addition, elderspeak is communicating to the residents similar to “baby talk” using such words as “Dearie” or “Sweetie”.  Research showed that the residents were more likely to cooperate with care when normal adult communication was used.   When nursing staff used elderspeak on the residents, behaviors such as grabbing objects, saying no, pulling away, screaming, hitting/kicking, and threatening were increased. 

Older adults are just that…adults- and should not be talked to as a child but rather in a respectful way just as you would carry on a conversation with any other adult.  They should still be treated with respect no matter their age or if they have Alzheimer’s disease.  Remember: They are a person first, before their disease.  If you have a loved one in the nursing home where you feel the staff is not being respectful of the resident and talking to him/her in a childlike manner, please speak with the staff at the nursing home about your concerns. 

This is going to be a greater challenge as more people are diagnosed with this horrible disease.  According to the new Facts and Figures released by the Alzheimer’s Association in 2008, it is estimated that there are currently 5.2 million Americans who have Alzheimer’s and by the year 2050 that number is expected to be 16 million.  It is important to educate health care professionals about how to speak with older adults now to help maintain a good quality of life as they move into their later years.  For more information on this study, please click here or go to http://www.alz.org/Icad/_icad_release_072808_8am_communication.asp.