• About 75% of residents have communication difficulties following stroke, dementia, Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions. 
• The majority of residents have hearing loss which often co-occur with other sensory impairments (e.g., vision, balance). S-LPs can work closely with audiologists to support optimal patient care.  
• About a third of residents have combined sensory and cognitive impairments.  
• Over half of long-term care residents have swallowing problems (dysphagia).

These difficulties are associated with: 

• Loneliness, reduced social engagement, loss of autonomy 
• Caregiver burden 
• Health and safety concerns (falls, medication errors, reduced ability to follow directions, malnutrition, dehydration and aspiration pneumonia) 
• Increased risk of acute care hospitalization and increased length of stay 

Speech-language pathology services address these concerns through: 

• Individual or group speech-language therapy to help residents communicate with their families, friends and carers 
• Augmentative and alternative communication interventions – communication boards and books, speech-generating devices 
• Individualized communication and swallowing care plans  
• Training on communication and behaviour management strategies that are useful in daily care and selecting topics of interest to the resident to engage them in conversation. 
• Collaboration with other professionals to maximize communication and swallowing health outcomes.

In addition to providing guidance to speech-language pathologists, these professional resource tools can support discussions about communication and swallowing needs with residents, family members, and other care home team members.  

The advocacy tools can help inform service delivery planning discussions with administrators and other interested parties. We will continue to add to this toolkit as resources become available.