Communication treatment for adults with dementia.

Intervention studies reporting improvements in communication skills in aging adults presumed to have dementia were identified and reviewed. Whereas the speech-language pathology journals have published only articles on the diagnosis and identification of communication deficits in adults with dementia, over 100 articles on treatments effecting changes in communicative deficiencies were found in psychology, social work, nursing, and gerontology journals. Much evidence supports the potential for positive outcomes from communication treatment with this population. Various design and methodological flaws, however, limit the extent to which these interventions should be applied without further research. Issues of ethics and social validity are discussed, and treatment and research needs are outlined.