Does your senior parent need speech therapy services? When seniors and their families are considering different types of care that seniors might need they often don’t think about this therapy. But it can have some big benefits for all seniors, especially seniors with chronic illnesses or seniors with illnesses like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or ALS.
Speech therapy primarily is a type of therapy designed to help seniors improve their communication but it has some other benefits for seniors too such as:
Keeping Vocal Strength
Seniors who have speech therapy at home work on improving the strength of their vocal cords so that they can speak at a better volume to be heard. As seniors get older and lose some of the flexibility and tone in their throat and vocal cords their voices can become so soft it’s difficult to hear them. This therapy helps seniors retain their ability to speak and communicate for as long as possible.
Recovering Vocal Ability After A Stroke
If your senior loved one has had a stroke and lost their ability to form words speech therapy can help them recover their ability to speak and communicate. In some cases, like when seniors experience paralysis or permanent damage from a stroke, seniors may not be able to completely get back their ability to speak. But starting this therapy as soon as possible after the stroke will give seniors the best chance to recover as much as possible of their ability to form words and communicate through speech.
Cognitive Skill Retention
One of the biggest benefits of speech therapy for seniors is improved cognitive skills. Seniors who have Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s should start therapy as soon after their diagnosis as possible. Working on therapy exercises can help seniors strengthen their cognitive skills, and that will help seniors with progressive diseases like Alzheimer’s maintain their thought-processing skills longer.
Improving Ability To Swallow
Speech therapy also can help seniors learn to swallow again after a stroke or other medical event. If your senior loved one has been in a medically induced coma because of a serious illness or accident, or if they had surgery for a heart attack or other condition and they haven’t been eating solid food for a while they may need to strengthen their muscles in order to swallow food safely again. Therapy exercises strengthen the throat muscles which seniors need in order to be able to swallow.
Therapy can be started in the hospital while your senior parent is hospitalized, but it’s also available for seniors at home. Speech therapy at home is something that most seniors prefer because they feel self-conscious or embarrassed if they struggle to make words or form the correct words during the therapy session. Therapy at home also is much more comfortable for seniors who have just recently been discharged from the hospital and may not be physically strong enough to get to and from medical appointments.
If you or a loved one needs Speech Therapy Care Services in Allentown PA or the surrounding areas, contact the caring professionals at Extended Family Care of Allentown. Call today at (610) 200-6097.
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