Ways to Improve Communication With Elderly Who Have Hearing Loss

It is always good to be prepared while you around someone who has hearing loss, check out the article and get some information yourself.

A new study has shown that hearing loss might cause the elderly to feel isolated from friends and family. While there could be a number of causes for folks to become less social due to hearing loss, difficulty in communication is likely a large contributor. Becoming socially isolated can lead to depression and overall health problems. So to help the senior with hearing loss in your life, it’s a good idea to be sure you are communicating with them effectively. Improving communication will make socializing easier for your loved one. Here are some tips to improving communication with people who have hearing difficulties.

Get Attention

The first thing you’ll need to do is to make sure the person is looking at you. It’s much easier to understand what someone is saying when you’re looking at their face and can see their lips moving. So place a hand on grandpa’s shoulder to get his attention or move to the side with the best hearing. Speaking on the side with the Miracle Ear may not be your best bet.

Keep Eye Contact

When the person you’re talking to can see your lips move, they can better understand you. Context clues can also be gained from seeing your body language and facial expressions. Much can be communicated through smiles, waving of arms or closed posture.

Be Mindful of Your Mouth

Again, to aid in lip reading, your older loved one or friend will need to see your mouth clearly. It takes some practice to be mindful of what you’re doing with your lips. Avoid making exaggerated shapes with your lips when talking and don’t talking with your mouth full or chew gum when speaking.

Speak Naturally

Along these same lines, don’t exaggerate the volume of your words when you talk. There’s no need to shout. Believe it or not, increasing your voice’s volume will actually cause your words to be distorted. Also, avoid mumbling and speaking too rapidly or slowly. Just talk as you normally would.

Ask Them to Repeat

If you need to give your hearing impaired friend information such as an address or name, it’s a good idea to ask them to repeat it back to you to ensure they’ve got it right. It’s very easy for details to be misunderstood with a hearing loss.

Don’t You Repeat

However, you want to avoid repeating sentences that your friend or loved one didn’t hear the first time. Instead, state it in a different way, using alternate words or phrasing. If they didn’t understand it the first time, it’s unlikely the will pick up those same words repeated.

Be Aware of Your Surroundings

Finally, it’s important to consider what’s going on around you when speaking to someone with hearing loss. If there is a lot of noise in the background, your words will be muffled and less likely to be heard and understood. If the lighting is poor, it will be hard to read your lips and facial expressions. Moving to a quiet, well-lit space for conversations is always a good idea.

Keep these tips in mind when speaking with someone with hearing loss. Taking just a few simple proactive measures can lessen frustration for both of you and increase your loved one’s self-esteem, as well as her willingness to socialize.