Peter Backhaus is a Lecturer at Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.

• Preface Nikolas Coupland 1. Introduction, Peter Backhaus 2. Elderspeak in Institutional Care, Kristine N. Williams 3. Dementia Care Communication in Residential Facilities: Intersections of Training and Research, Boyd H. Davis and Mary K. Smith 4. Creating a Positive Communication Environment in Long Term Care Settings, Rosemary Lubinski 5. Care of People with Alzheimer's Disease in New Zealand, Margaret Maclagan and Annabel Grant 6. Roles, Relations and the Loss of Autonomy in Caretaking of the Elderly in Denmark, Trine Heinemann 7. A German Case Study on Communication in Migrant-in-the-Family Eldercare, Hilke Engfer 8. Institutional Role Play in a Japanese Eldercare Facility, Peter Backhaus 9. What Peer Conversations Suggest for Communication in Elderly Care, Yoshiko Matsumoto 10. Art, Alzheimer's Disease, and Discourse: Talk in Response to Museum Paintings, Heidi Hamilton 11. Using Narrative Arts to Foster Personhood in Dementia Ellen B. Ryan and Lori Schindel Martin

'Age has been recognized in Sociolinguistic research as one of the crucial social variables early on; for as we grow old we change our speech behaviour. Therefore, communication across age cohorts is not always without hitches. This is of particular relevance in the context of elderly care. Yet, the particular challenges of communication between caregiver and usually much older care recipient have rarely been studied, let alone addressed in care courses. The present volume fills a real gap. Based on empirical research in seven countries, it offers insights about how language use in care giving settings is patterned and how it can be improved.'