Aging in Place: Wellness and Health Literacy for the Older Adult
This article was originally published in the July 2019 issue of the ISHA Voice. It has been republished in the October 2024 issue as October is Health Literacy Awareness month.
By Jordan Bowman, Past-President
What is Aging in Place?
Aging in place is a term used to describe a person living in the residence of their choice for as long as they are able, as they age. This includes having access to services or support over time so that persons can successfully age in place.
What is our role as SLPs and audiologists to support Aging in Place?
Speech-language pathologists and audiologists advocate for individuals through a variety of mechanisms including community, awareness, prevention, activities, health literacy, academic, literacy, education, political action, and training programs (ASHA 2016, 2018). Our role in assisting the older adult to successfully age in place fits into our scope of practice via awareness, prevention, and health literacy. We have the opportunity to play a crucial role in educating clients regarding health and wellness and connecting clients to the community whether it be health services or mind-body wellness services. By providing our clients with the knowledge, skills, and tools they need to navigate their own health and well-being, our older adults will have the opportunity to have greater communication competence, enhanced quality of life, and reduced hospital admissions.
What is Health Literacy?
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions. Health literacy is dependent on individual factors including communication skills of laypersons and professionals, patients and professionals’ knowledge of health topics, culture, demands of the healthcare systems, and demands of the situation. Health literacy level also affects peoples’ ability to navigate the healthcare system, including filling out complex forms and locating providers and services, share personal information, such as health history with providers, engage in self-care and chronic-disease management, and understand mathematical concepts. As part of a comprehensive evaluation or during diagnostic treatment, the speech-language pathologist and the audiologist have the ability to seek out and utilize tools to also assess health literacy. There are several free tools online that you or your organization can adopt as best practice. Health literacy assessment tools provide information regarding the patient’s ability to understand, for example, how to understand information regarding new medications, read and comprehend personal health information; and make decisions about how to live a healthy lifestyle.
How does addressing Health Literacy and Wellness help with reducing hospitalization?
It is well known a significant indicator of success for any client is successful transition planning and discharge readiness. Speech-language pathologists and audiologists play a unique role in the interprofessional collaborative care delivery model for older adults with mild cognitive impairment, for example, by providing a combination of cognitive stimulation exercises, functional cognitive communication interventions, and health literacy considerations that will prepare clients for discharge to their residence of choice. Both improved health literacy and medication management have shown to reduce risk of hospital readmission due to medication errors secondary to cognitive decline (Felix, et al., 2015).
References:
American Speech‑Language‑Hearing Association. (2018). Scope of practice in audiology [Scope of Practice]. Available from www.asha.org/policy/.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2016). Scope of practice in speech-language pathology [Scope of Practice]. Available from www.asha.org/policy/.
Felix, H. C., Seaberg, B., Bursac, Z., Thostenson, J., & Stewart, M. K. (2015). Why do patients keep coming back? Results of a Readmitted Patient Survey. Social Work in Health Care, 54(1), 1–15. http://doi.org/10.1080/00981389.2014.966881
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2000. Healthy People 2010. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Originally developed for Ratzan SC, Parker RM. 2000. Introduction. In National Library of Medicine Current Bibliographies in Medicine: Health Literacy. Selden CR, Zorn M, Ratzan SC, Parker RM, Editors. NLM Pub. No. CBM 2000-1. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Jordan Bowman has experience working in outpatient, skilled nursing, assisted living, and independent living settings as a speech-language pathologist. She has interests in treating individuals with disability due to Mild Cognitive Impairment, dementia, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, and late effects of cerebral vascular disease. Jordan is highly involved in her profession acting as Vice President for the Division of Professional Affairs for ISHA and is the current Illinois StAMP representative for ASHA. She has presented at both ASHA and ISHA on Mindfulness, Dementia, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Pain Management.
