What tools exist to measure communication support needs and preferences for older adults in aged care?

What tools exist to capture the communication support needs and communication preferences of older adults who receive aged care services?

A scoping review. 

29 tools were reviewed. The researchers found that:​

• Most tools focused on specific health conditions (e.g. dementia) or impairments (e.g. hearing loss), rather than the whole person).​
• Very few tools captured communication preferences or personal factors, such as a person’s cultural or language background.​
• Most tools were designed to be completed by specialists like speech pathologists, making them difficult to use in everyday aged care. ​
• Only one tool offered an accessible version with pictures and everyday English to support older people to complete it themselves.

• Older adults often experience changes to their communication. 
• Identifying the communication support needs and communication preferences of older adults is important to support quality of life.
• But there isn't much information of how communication support needs and communication preferences are captured in aged care settings. 

• The research found that no single tool is currently suitable for use across aged care settings.
• These findings mean a new tool is needed that captures the whole person, is easy to use, and can be completed by, or with, people receiving aged care services. 

A scoping review.

• A scoping review searches for all the research on a topic.

• It shows what we know and what we don't know.

• It finds gaps where more research is needed.

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• Communication changes with age.

• Changes to communication may be because of ageing, personal factors, or the environment around a person.

Good communication in aged care is important for:

• making decisions

• relationships with other people

• setting goals, and

• living well.

• Because of these factors, it is important to understand the communication support needs and communication preferences of older adults receiving aged care. 

Ther were no risks related to this research.

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• This research looks at all the current research on a topic. 

• This research did not involve people.

•To find out which tools already exist and describe them, a scoping review was the most appropriate method.

The searches were conducted in July 2024.

The research was done by reviewing existing studies online. 

 A Medical Research Future Fund grant awarded to Associate Professor Sarah J Wallace (2015728).

• The researchers only reviewed research reported in English.

• This means there may be information in other languages that the researchers could not review.

Yes. This research followed two processes:

• The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews and

• Registration on the Open Science Framework.

This research looks at all the current research on a topic.  To be included, research had to: • Report data from studies that were published in academic journals, books, or webpages. • Investigate the use, development, or testing of measurement tools that capture communication support needs or communication preferences of older adults. • Describe tools which are reported by older adults themselves, or by an observer. • Report in English.

• The research found that there is no single, suitable tool to capture the communication support needs and communication preferences of older adults who receive aged care services. 

• A new tool is needed to capture the communication support needs and communication preferences of older adults who receive aged care services. 

More information about the research included in the review can be found in this journal article: Identifying Older Adults’ Communication Support Needs and Preferences: A Scoping Review of Measurement Instruments | The Gerontologist | Oxford Academic

or on our website: School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences - University of Queensland