Sociolinguistic and Statistical Methods to Improve Health Communication Between the Elderly, Caregivers and Institutions: The Age.Vol.A. Research Project

This article reports on the latest developments of Age.Vol.A. (Ageing, Volunteers, Assistants. Multilingual tools for assisting the ageing), an ongoing funded research project on ageing issues in Northern Italy’s Varese province. Its main aim is to facilitate the communication between the home-assisted elderly, their families and foreign caregivers and, in so doing, to ulti¬mately improve elderly care. After statistically analysing the socio-demographic background of the geographical area involved, the study thoroughly describes how surveying tools to obtain information from the three groups addressed were devised. Based on a multidisciplinary methodological approach drawing on sociolinguistics, socio-anthropology and statistics, they were firstly submitted only to the home-assisted elderly’s families and relatives, from whom also secondary data about the home-assisted seniors and foreign caregivers were obtained. Amongst the findings that indicate communicative expectations and needs of families, a profile of caregivers emerges from the survey: they are mainly migrants from Eastern Europe and Central and South America, who have been working with their current senior for less than two years. A large portion of the sample works more than five days a week and more than 20 hours a week. Finally, most of them spend almost the same time with their assisted seniors than before the current global pandemic, which means that COVID-19 has had no major impact on their working life.