How Speech Therapists Improve Communication Skills of the Older Adults?

As you age, your senses get adversely affected. Some people lose their vision while others may develop speaking or hearing problems. If the latter is the case, you are taken to speech therapists who help enhance your communication skills. Speech therapists offer therapies that improve the senior’s cognition and communication. Their treatment plans are designed in such a way that a senior may regain his ability to speak properly without any trouble.

Speech Therapy for Seniors After a Stroke

Many times, seniors suffer from a condition – “aphasia” after a stroke. This impairs their ability to comprehend and use their language properly. A stroke may damage their face, making it difficult for older adults to utter words, let alone speak a language. Therapists engage seniors in singing to help them make melodic intonations for words they can’t properly articulate. They make use of constraint-induced therapy to help older adults to pronounce certain words with ease. They also utilize muscle restraining strategies to prevent muscle problems while speaking.

Speech Therapy for Dementia

Dementia directly impacts one’s cognitive speech. This further creates problems for seniors to remember information properly. Speech therapists help seniors engage in activities like visual speech perception as it helps associate certain words with the help of pictures. This activity improves the cognitive retaining of older adults. They also help keep their language skills sharp so that their memory condition remains intact and they don’t forget their speaking or reasoning skills.

Speech Therapy for Head Injuries and Head, Neck & Throat Cancer Patients

Traumatic incidents have a long-lasting effect on one’s brain. This can leave seniors with a lack of language or communication skill. However, the severity of the condition depends on the intensity of the traumatic incident.
How do speech therapists deal with such patients? They conduct various therapies that help them communicate better. Those therapies include constraint-induced therapy and modification and cognition therapy. Another kind of treatment that speech therapists utilize is the electric stimulation of the throat muscles.

They are also asked to do exercises that involve seniors to maintain their muscle function as they try to recover their language capabilities.
If you want to help elderly people with their communication skills and want them to live a happy and healthy life, click here.