The irony of elderspeak: effective but condescending

In the long-term care facilities where I work, I've noticed certain ways health care providers converse with residents, and I am starting to pick up these speech patterns myself. Are these language changes helpful, or are they communication hazards?

Although most people pick up on the special language caregivers often use with long-term care residents and elders in general, few question its appropriateness until they are old enough to be subjected to it. Since the late 1980s, however, researchers have been examining this vernacular. It has acquired a number of names, such as "secondary baby talk" or "overaccommodative speech," but the tag used most often is "elderspeak."