Communication in Elderly Care: Cross-Cultural Perspectives

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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.

Reviews

Age has been recognized in Sociolinguistic research as one of the crucial social variables early on; for as we grow old we change our speech behaviour. Therefore, communication across age cohorts is not always without hitches. This is of particular relevance in the context of elderly care. Yet, the particular challenges of communication between caregiver and usually much older care recipient have rarely been studied, let alone addressed in care courses. The present volume fills a real gap. Based on empirical research in seven countries, it offers insights about how language use in care giving settings is patterned and how it can be improved. -- Professor Florian Coulmas, Director of German Institute for Japanese Studies, University Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Backhaus provides essential reading for those wishing to care responsibly for as well as study older people. Yet this absorbing collection also harbors potential insights and transformable practices for all of us who care for others who are enduring problems and issues, irrespective of their age. This volume is a rich testament to the under-appreciated, yet incontestable, fact that caring is a complex communicative process. -- Howard Giles, Professor of Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Reviewed in German Journal - Japan Markt.
The chapters are written by authors from around the world and so whilst offering a variety of methodological approaches they also bring with them perspectives from different social and cultural contexts. This is a real strength of the book. [...] This book will be useful for educators who are interested in the intricacies of communication with older people and the 'action' of communication strategies, to researchers who are interested in linguistics as well as to students of gerontology who have a particular interest in communication. -- Brendon McCormack, University of Ulster * Journal of Ageing & Society *

Author Bio

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