Elderspeak is a specialized speech style used by younger adults with older adults, characterized by simpler vocabulary and sentence structure, filler words, content words, overly-endearing terms, closed-ended questions, using the collective "we", repetition, and speaking more slowly.
[1][2][3] Elderspeak stems from the stereotype that older people have reduced cognitive abilities, such as in language processing and production, and its use may be a result of or contribute to ageism.
Young people tend to infer that older adults are slower at processing information and more cognitively inflexible.
Research by Susan Kemper[1] demonstrated that both volunteers and professional caregivers engaged in elderspeak when interacting with the elderly.
Elderspeak is actually offensive but nursing home residents are no longer offended by these speech patterns because they have claimed it as a normal habit.
[10] The use of elderspeak in more "warmth" and lower in a "superiority" dimension when the speaker was a family member and/or friend compared to an unfamiliar.
[3] Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition that gradually destroys the abilities to remember, reason, and engage in meaningful social interaction.
Severe forms of elderspeak contribute to discrimination in the workplace, potentially infringing on the basic human right of that individual to a safe work environment.
People in closer relationships will be more likely to know the cognitive function of the individual; acquaintances or strangers would be less likely to make accurate judgements of this.
Although elderspeak has been shown to help older adults with dementia and Alzheimer's in language comprehension, they are not immune to feeling disrespected when it is used.
[14] Shorter sentences appear to have a beneficial effect on older adults’ communication, factors of elderspeak such as slow speech and exaggerated pitch tend to make older persons feel worse about their own competency, as well as the competency of the speaker;[17] However, younger adults continue to use elderspeak with these characteristics.
Not only does elderspeak fail to improve communication effectiveness for older adults, the messages inherent in elderspeak may unknowingly reinforce dependency and engender isolation and depression, contributing to the spiral of decline in physical, cognitive, and functional status common for elderly individuals.