An ethnocentric perspective on African American elderly persons and functional communication assessment

Cultural and ethnic diversity among elderly persons has been included in a limited way in functional communication assessments for persons with language impairments secondary to a cerebrovascular accident This paper examines the differences between African American and white elderly persons with respect to the financial resources, living arrangements, education, participation in church and religious activities, relationships to family and significant others, and leisure and educational interests that influence the communication context of individuals and, hence, their functional communication priorities. Selected functional assessments are reviewed for their inclusion of African American elders in normative data or for a reference to ethnicity as an important variable for case history intake. Recommendations are made to increase cultural sensitivity in functional assessments.