Small Jeff A, Gutman Gloria, Makela Saskia, Hillhouse Beth
School of Audiology and Speech Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2003 Apr;46(2):353-67. doi: 10.1044/1092-4388(2003/028).
Communication difficulties between individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and their caregivers are commonly reported. Caregivers carry the burden of managing breakdowns in communication because people with AD are often unable to modify their communicative behavior. To assist caregivers in this endeavor, clinicians and caregiving professionals have offered a variety of strategies aimed at accommodating the individual's declining abilities. Many of these strategies are intuitively appealing, but they lack empirical support. This study investigated the effectiveness of 10 frequently recommended communication strategies when employed by family caregivers of persons with AD. In particular, we assessed (a) which strategies family caregivers report using and with what degree of success, (b) which of these strategies are used by caregivers in actual interactions with their spouses, and (c) which strategies contribute to improved communication. The study included a self-report questionnaire and wireless audio-recorded interactions between 18 persons with AD and their spousal caregivers during activities of daily living. The findings validate the effectiveness of certain communication strategies (e.g., simple sentences) but not others (e.g., slow speech). The results should be of interest to both family members and professionals who want to enhance communication and the quality of their interactions with persons with Alzheimer's disease.
阿尔茨海默病（AD）患者与其照料者之间的沟通困难是常见的报告内容。由于AD患者往往无法改变其沟通行为，照料者承担着管理沟通障碍的负担。为了在这方面帮助照料者，临床医生和护理专业人员提供了各种旨在适应个体能力下降的策略。其中许多策略直观上很有吸引力，但缺乏实证支持。本研究调查了10种经常被推荐的沟通策略在AD患者家庭照料者使用时的有效性。具体而言，我们评估了：（a）家庭照料者报告使用了哪些策略以及成功程度如何；（b）照料者在与配偶的实际互动中使用了哪些策略；（c）哪些策略有助于改善沟通。该研究包括一份自我报告问卷以及18名AD患者及其配偶照料者在日常生活活动中的无线音频记录互动。研究结果证实了某些沟通策略（如简单句）的有效性，但其他一些策略（如语速放慢）则不然。这些结果对于希望加强与阿尔茨海默病患者沟通及互动质量的家庭成员和专业人员都应具有参考价值。
