Healthy living, “healthy aging,” words that refer to a lifestyle, encompassing a series of good habits that prevent isolation, neglect, and dependence. Their objective: to live with autonomy, health, and, if possible, for many years.
There are those who age in this way, actively relating to their environment and the society in which they coexist. Others, on the contrary, either due to their daily routine, genetics, not feeling alone, illness(es), or some misfortune that befell them, become part of those who feel limited and dependent on other people to do certain things. In this case, families, social services, and the individual themselves begin to look for solutions regarding the best place to live.
On many occasions, when advanced age is combined with dependence, the most chosen option is a place in a senior residence. Once this alternative arises, a process of adaptation and reinvention begins for both the family and the new resident.
Just as life expectancy has increased, the number of what were formerly called “geriatric centers” (geriatric residences) has also grown, and with them, the possibility of accommodating more citizens. These individuals will arrive with a very heterogeneous profile, not only due to their life experiences but also due to their physical, sensory, and/or cognitive limitations. This obliges these types of institutions (geriatric residences) to have a multidisciplinary team that can provide a good standard of care, because… how would we like to be cared for?
Currently, the professional therapy staff we find in these senior care centers (requested by the department of health and social welfare) is varied, and the basic requirements largely depend on the region or state we are in, ranging from minimum requirements (nursing and occupational therapist) to those bordering on excellence in patient care (medical service for more than 45 users, nursing, psychology-neuropsychology, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and physiotherapy).
Among them, the most recently included professional in the team has been the speech therapist or neurologopedist. They are trained and responsible for PREVENTING and DETECTING presbyphonia, so common in old age, for keeping the musculature of the organs involved in both speech and swallowing active, and for preventing language problems derived from the aging of our brain. But on the other hand, they are responsible for EVALUATING and TREATING those people who, due to a specific or neurodegenerative problem, present dysphagia, voice alterations, a speech disorder such as dysarthria or apraxia of speech, an oral language disorder (aphasia) and/or written language disorder, and for creating tools and strategies so that a person can communicate after neurological damage (after a stroke, trauma, tumor, etc.).
Today, the finishing touch in care quality is attention to detail, and more and more residences are opting for this therapist profile. Clinical Speech Therapy training or Neurologopedics (like ISEP’s Master’s in Clinical Speech Therapy) offers new career opportunities as a consequence of population aging, less known but booming job opportunities.