Referral to a speech and language therapist can add value by:

• Diagnosing the level of dysphagia and identifying risk of aspiration• Developing strategies to enable appropriate nutrition and hydration• Training and supporting families and carers• Developing person-centred preventative health plans

Problems with frequent chest infections, and eating and drinking diffi culties may indicate dysphagia.

Dysphagia usually results from neurological or physical impairment of the oral, pharyngeal or oesophageal mechanisms.

This could indicate communication diffi culties linked to dementia.

The communication diffi culties experienced by people with dementia can include word-fi nding diffi culties, repetition of a topic or questions, paucity of speech, problems with turn taking, and inappropriate topic change or maintenance.

Referral to a speech and language therapist can add value by:

• Maximising the patient’s potential to recover their speech, language and communication skills

• Developing effective conversation strategies for use by the patient and those they communicate with

• Helping the patient to regain and maintain their quality of life

This could be aphasia (also known as dysphasia), a total or partial loss of ability to use or understand language.

Aphasia can exist while other cognitive abilities remain intact and can affect spoken and written language.

This kind of communication diffi culty could indicate dysarthria.

Dysarthria is a speech disorder caused by impairment of the muscles that produce speech. It results in speech with abnormal characteristics that can include slurring or a diffi culty in articulating words and reducing intelligibility.

• Diagnosing the level of dysphagia and identifying risk of aspiration• Developing strategies to enable appropriate nutrition and hydration

Communication and Dementiawww.givingvoiceuk.org/dementia

Referral to a speech and language therapist can add value by:

• Providing strategies to improve intelligibility, reduce effort and achieve a means of communication that best fi ts the patient’s needs

• Supporting families and carers to communicate with their family member• Identifying potential eating and drinking diffi culties

Referral to a speech and language therapist can add value by:

• Developing an individual communication programme to help slow the decline of social communication skills• Providing interventions, such as communication groups, which can

be effective in improving quality of life• Supporting patients, families and carers to make communication easier

“ It feels uncomfortable

when I swallow and

I keep choking”

“My motheris confused

and her speech sounds odd.

She constantlyrepeats herself”

“My speechhas become

unclear”

“My husbandis fi nding

conversationsvery diffi cult”