Communication disorders: A complex population in healthcare

This article provides readers with an overview of a population of clients that requires special consideration in healthcare settings: children and adults with communication disorders. In addition to standard barriers to effective communication between patients and doctors, people with communication disorders face a further challenge – communicating with medical and health professionals when their speech and language skills are impaired. The article examines how communication skills may fail to develop normally in the early years or may break down in adulthood and later life in the context of illness, injury or disease. Several communication disorders are illustrated using a lifespan perspective. The prevalence and impact of communication disorders are also considered. Finally, the article examines how communication disorders are assessed and treated by speech-language pathologists. The discussion serves as a primer or orientation for health practitioners and communication researchers to an important population of clients who have largely been neglected in health communication research that has been conducted to date.