Psycholinguistic and social psychological components of communication by and with the elderly

This Special Issue commemorates the 50th anniversary of communication accommodation theory (CAT) in 2023, formerly known as speech accommodation theory. This article reflects on the diversity of CAT research as seen in recent studies (2021–2023) as well as the empirical papers to follow in this Special Issue. It provides an overview of CAT's history by reference to previously suggested stages in the evolution of research, with many updates to stages therein, demonstrating the theory's cross-disciplinary influences across many applied social contexts, diverse social groups, languages and cultures, and other communicative features. Next, we overview burgeoning recent research in computer-mediated and human-machine interactions that leads to the identification of a seventh stage of CAT and an agenda of research questions for future work suggested by it. In conclusion, we propose a refined and expanded set of Principles of Accommodation.

Many people living with dementia experience challenges comprehending language and benefit from nonverbal communication supports. Little published empirical evidence exists for care partners regarding supportive strategies for nonverbal communication with people living with dementia. This study aimed to conduct a scoping review of nonverbal strategies for care partners which have been observed to support communication with people living with dementia.

Current best practices for scoping research guided this review. CINAHL, PsycInfo, Scopus, and Pubmed databases were searched December 8, 2020. Empirical studies that examined the supportiveness of nonverbal communication strategies used by care partners of people living with dementia were eligible. All publication dates were included. Eligible studies were published in English in peer-reviewed journals. Studies were screened first by title and abstract, and subsequently by full-text review. Data charting was conducted using an evidence summary table, which was subsequently used for analysis. Results were presented in the form of a written summary.

Sixteen studies were included in the final review. Six categories of supportive nonverbal communication strategies were identified: eye contact, gestures, facial expression, touch, close proximity, and frontal orientation. Studies observed six outcomes which indicated that these nonverbal strategies were supportive for communication with people living with dementia; however, person-centered outcomes were limited.

The review identified supportive nonverbal communication strategies used by care partners with people living with dementia in the current literature. Disagreement exists in the literature regarding which outcomes define supportive nonverbal communication with people living with dementia. This in combination with the benefits of person-centered approaches to care with people living with dementia presents a critical need to delineate which nonverbal communication strategies are person-centered in future research.

Six supportive nonverbal communication strategies identified by scoping literature review, but there is disagreement in how the literature defines “supportive” @marie_y_s @EmmaBender19.

Successful communication is key to health in older age. This is true in the narrow sense of being able to gain critical information, e.g., from health care providers, but also more broadly in being able to maintain social ties and pursue meaningful activities, which, in turn, are central to maintaining health and well-being. Compared to younger adults, older adults show both quantitative and qualitative changes in how information is processed and used over time to achieve comprehension. Such systematic age-related neural dissimilarities in processing dynamics and strategies raise fundamental questions about how the human brain supports cross-generational communication, especially in light of accumulating evidence linking interpersonal similarities in brain responses to communicative success. Yet despite its prevalence and tangible health-related importance, naturalistic intergenerational communication involving older adults is understudied. In this chapter, we lay out why filling this research gap is critical in advancing our understanding of naturalistic communication, with implications for both science and practice.