title: Meeting communication needs: topics of talk in the nursing home.
abstract: Nursing home residents primarily rely on staff for communication and interpersonal relationships. Challenged by staffing shortages and increasingly complex care, staff who provide the most communication with residents lack awareness and skills to effectively communicate with older adults. This study, a secondary analysis of staff-resident interactions from one nursing home, explores communication topics and the effects of an intervention. Staff from one unit were recorded during 2 hours of caregiving to provide a representative sample of their communication with residents. Staff then attended an educational program targeting improved awareness of communication needs and reducing "elderspeak". Recording was repeated post-intervention. Baseline conversations focused on activities of daily living (ADLs), personal-social, technical care, and health assessment. Post-intervention ADL talk decreased in staff-resident interactions, while personal-social topics increased. These findings suggest that residents' limited opportunities for communication with staff are primarily focused on care tasks. With increased communication awareness, staff can learn to modify conversational topics to better meet older adults' psychosocial needs.
authors.affiliation: University of Kansas School of Nursing, Kansas City 66160-7502, USA. kwilliams1@kumc.edu
authors.forename: Kristine Nordlie
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Teresa Buchhorn
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Ilten
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bower
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001364:Awareness; D003142:Communication; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006796:Household Work; D006801:Humans; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D009728:Nursing Assistants / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000458:organization & administration; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000193:education* / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D015397:Program Evaluation; D013637:Tape Recording