Synonyms
Definition
A communication disorder is an impairment in the ability to receive, send, process, and comprehend concepts or verbal, nonverbal, and graphic symbol systems (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association 1993).
Overview
Communication plays a crucial role in how people interact with their environment and allows for the exchange of thoughts and ideas to others. It is normal for the aging population to have some degree of difficulty with expressing or understanding thoughts in a meaningful way. However, many older adults experience significant difficulty with one or more processes central to language and communication. This may include disordered comprehension and/or expression of language, and can affect spoken, written, or other communicated systems (Collins 2003). Deficits can disrupt both physical and neurological pathways and can affect expression and reception, both of which are essential for effective communication. Any of these components being...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Aartsen M, Jylhä M (2011) Onset of loneliness in older adults: results of a 28 year prospective study. Eur J Ageing 8:31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-011-0175-7
Alavi MV (2016) Aging and vision. In: Advances in experimental medicine and biology. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17121-0_52
Allen L, Mehta S, Andrew McClure J, Teasell R (2012) Therapeutic interventions for aphasia initiated more than six months post stroke: a review of the evidence. Top Stroke Rehabil 19(6):523–535. https://doi.org/10.1310/tsr1906-523
Altschuler EL, Multari A, Hirstein W, Ramachandran VS (2006) Situational therapy for Wernicke’s aphasia. Med Hypotheses 67(4):713–716. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2005.10.035
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (1993) Definitions of communication disorders and variations [Relevant Paper]. Available from www.asha.org/policy
Brady MC, Kelly H, Godwin J, Enderby P, Campbell P (2016) Speech and language therapy for aphasia following stroke. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD000425.pub4
Breitenstein C, Grewe T, Flöel A, Ziegler W, Springer L, Martus P, … Bamborschke S (2017) Intensive speech and language therapy in patients with chronic aphasia after stroke: a randomised, open-label, blinded-endpoint, controlled trial in a health-care setting. Lancet 389(10078):1528–1538. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30067-3
Chong J, Sacco R (2005) Risk factors for stroke, assessing risk, and the mass and high-risk approaches for stroke prevention. In: Gorelick PB (ed) Continuum: stroke prevention. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Hagerstwon, pp 18–34
Collins JW (2003) The greenwood dictionary of education. Greenwood, Westport, p 66. ISBN: 0-89774-860-3
Congdon N, O’Colmain B, Klaver CC et al (2004) Causes and prevalence of visual impairment among adults in the United States. Arch Ophthalmol 122(4):477–485
Davidson B, Howe T, Worrall L, Hickson L, Togher L (2008) Social participation for older people with aphasia: the impact of communication disability on friendships. Top Stroke Rehabil 15(4):325–340. https://doi.org/10.1310/tsr1504-325
DePaulo BM, Friedman HS (1998) Nonverbal communication. In: Gilbert DT, Fiske ST, Lindzey G (eds) The handbook of social psychology, vol 2, 4th edn. McGraw-Hill, New York, pp 3–39
Fratiglioni L, Paillard-Borg S, Winblad B (2004) An active and socially integrated lifestyle in late life might protect against dementia. Lancet Neurol 3:343. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(04)00767-7
Gollogly HE, Hodge DO, St Sauver JL, Erie JC (2013) Increasing incidence of cataract surgery: population-based study. J Cataract Refract Surg 39(9):1383–1389
Heine C, Browning CJ (2002) Communication and psychosocial consequences of sensory loss in older adults: overview and rehabilitation directions. Disabil Rehabil 24(15):763–773. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638280210129162
Hoffman HJ, Dobie RA, Losonczy KG, Themann CL, Flamme GA (2017) Declining prevalence of hearing loss in US adults aged 20 to 69 years declining prevalence of hearing loss in US adults declining prevalence of hearing loss in US adults. JAMA Otolaryngol–Head Neck Surg 143(3):274–285. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoto.2016.3527
House JS, Landis KR, Umberson D (1988) Social relationships and health. Science 241(4865):540–545. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.3399889
Luo Y, Hawkley LC, Waite LJ, Cacioppo JT (2012) Loneliness, health, and mortality in old age: a national longitudinal study. Soc Sci Med 74:907. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.11.028
Madl CM, Heilshorn SC, Blau HM (2018) Bioengineering strategies to accelerate stem cell therapeutics. Nature 557(7705):335–342. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0089-z
Monti A, Ferrucci R, Fumagalli M, Mameli F, Cogiamanian F, Ardolino G, Priori A (2013) Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and language. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 84(8):832–842. https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp-2012-302825
Musich S, Wang SS, Hawkins K, Yeh CS (2015) The impact of loneliness on quality of life and patient satisfaction among older, sicker adults. Gerontol Geriatric Med. https://doi.org/10.1177/2333721415582119
Petersen J, Kaye J, Jacobs PG, Quinones A, Dodge H, Arnold A, Thielke S (2016) Longitudinal relationship between loneliness and social isolation in older adults: results from the cardiovascular health study. J Aging Health 28:775. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264315611664
Ryan EB, Giles H, Bartolucci G, Henwood K (1986) Psycholinguistic and social psychological components of communication by and with the elderly language and communication in healthy aging individuals. Lang Commun 6(l):1–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/0271-5309(86)90002-9
Scott S, Caird FI (1983) Speech therapy for Parkinson’s disease. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry 46(2):140–144
Shewan CM, Kertesz A (1984) Effects of speech and language treatment on recovery from aphasia. Brain Lang 23(2):272–299. https://doi.org/10.1016/0093-934X(84)90068-3
The Eye Diseases Prevalence Research Group∗ (2004) Causes and prevalence of visual impairment among adults in the United States. Arch Ophthalmol 122(4):477–485. https://doi.org/10.1001/archopht.122.4.477
Vaisbuch Y, Santa Maria PL (2018) Age-related hearing loss: innovations in hearing augmentation. Otolaryngol Clin N Am 51:705. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.otc.2018.03.002
You DS, Kim DY, Chun MH, Jung SE, Park SJ (2011) Cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation of the right Wernicke’s area improves comprehension in subacute stroke patients. Brain Lang 119:1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2011.05.002
Zambelli-Weiner A, Crews JE, Friedman DS (2012) Disparities in adult vision health in the United States. Am J Ophthalmol 154(6):S23–S30.e1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajo.2012.03.018
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Calfee, K., Woods, A.J. (2021). Language and Communication Disorders. In: Gu, D., Dupre, M.E. (eds) Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22009-9_701
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22009-9_701
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-22008-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-22009-9
eBook Packages: Social SciencesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences