Communication in Elderly Care Cross-Cultural Perspectives [Paperback]

The topic of communication in elderly care is becoming ever more pressing, with an aging world population and burgeoning numbers of people needing care. This book looks at this critical but underanalyzed area. It examines the way people talk to each other in eldercare settings from an interdisciplinary and globally cross-cultural perspective.

The small body of available research points to eldercare communication taking place with its own specific conditions and contexts. Often, there is the presence of various mental/physical ailments on the part of the care receivers, scarcity of time, resources and/or flexibility on the part of the care givers, and a mutual necessity of providing/receiving assistance with intimate personal activities.

The book combines theory and practice, with linguistically informed analysis of real-life interaction in eldercare settings across the world. Each chapter closes with a Practical Recommendations section that contains suggestions on how communication in eldercare can be improved. This book is an important and timely publication that will appeal to researchers and carers alike.

Peter Backhaus is a Lecturer at Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan

Preface Nikolas Coupland \ 1. Introduction, Peter Backhaus \ 2. Elderspeak in institutional care, Kristine N. Williams \ 3. Dementia care communication in residential facilities: Intersections of training and research, Boyd H. Davis and Mary K. Smith \ 4. Creating a positive communication environment in long term care settings, Rosemary Lubinski \ 5. Care of people with Alzheimer's Disease in New Zealand, Margaret Maclagan and Annabel Grant \ 6. Roles, relations and the loss of autonomy in caretaking of the elderly in Denmark, Trine Heinemann \ 7. A German case study on communication in migrant-in-the-family eldercare, Hilke Engfer \ 8. Institutional role play in a Japanese eldercare facility, Peter Backhaus \ 9. What peer conversations suggest for communication in eldels+