Helped to nurse very old being ignored (7)
I believe the answer is:
avoided
'ignored' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with communicating as well as being past participle verbs.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I don't see?
'helped to nurse very old' is the wordplay.
'helped' becomes 'aided' ('aid' can be a synonym of 'help').
'to nurse' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'very' becomes 'v' (abbreviation).
'old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English).
'v'+'o'='vo'
'aided' placed around 'vo' is 'AVOIDED'.
'being' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for avoided that I've seen before include "Eluded or dodged" , "Stayed clear of" , "Shunned" , "Missed" , "Steered clear of" .)