Communication difficulties of nursing home residents. How can staff help?

Recent studies have found a high prevalence of communication disorders in elderly residents of nursing homes. This study was undertaken to investigate staff attitudes to the communication problems and communicative needs of residents in their care. A questionnaire was administered to 32 staff members from one nursing home. Responses indicate little evidence of the negative staff attitudes previously reported in the literature. Staff wanted more time to spend communicating with residents and wanted to learn more about the residents' communication problems. Implications of the questionnaire responses for staff training are presented.