The communication status of older people: differentiation and rehabilitation

The communication integrity of the older individual is subject to many influences. Understanding and management of the elderly communication-handicapped can prove difficult because of the problems of differential diagnosis. The role of the speech therapist is acknowledged in acute geriatric rehabilitation but is not immediately associated with psychogeriatric care. The laws of language deterioration appear to apply irrespective of aetiology. Standard linguistic rehabilitation techniques may be equally applicable in both geriatric and psychogeriatric care.