Elderspeak in Healthcare Settings: How Care, Control and Personhood Intersect in Care Communication-A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis.

In 30 seconds

This qualitative meta-synthesis examined how healthcare personnel experience, perceive and use elderspeak and other patronizing communication with older adults across healthcare settings. The review included 13 qualitative studies. Its synthesis identified elderspeak as both a practice that can erode personhood and a normalized form of behavioural regulation within institutions. Personnel may use it with caring intentions to support cooperation and care routines, yet it can also constrain older adults’ autonomy, participation and sense of personhood. The authors frame elderspeak as a tension between care, control and personhood, shaped by individual communication and organizational contexts.

Key findings

• Thirteen qualitative studies were included in the meta-synthesis.
• Two descriptive themes concerned elderspeak’s erosion of personhood and its normalization as institutional behavioural regulation.
• Elderspeak may facilitate cooperation and care routines while also constraining older adults’ autonomy, participation and personhood.

Why it matters

Communication intended to make care easier can also signal that older adults are dependent or less competent, potentially limiting their participation and autonomy. Recognizing elderspeak as both an interpersonal and institutional practice helps frame person-centred communication as more than an individual skill: organizational routines and norms may also need reflection.

What to keep in mind

The synthesis included qualitative studies and did not involve patient or public participation in its design, conduct or reporting.