When someone suffers from hearing loss, it can be difficult and even frustrating for them to communicate effectively with others. Seniors who experience age-related hearing impairment often feel isolated and may withdraw from social situations, which can take a terrible toll on their overall quality of life.
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While some older adults benefit from assistive devices like hearing aids, not all types of hearing loss respond to this kind of treatment. Fortunately, the use of proper communication techniques can significantly improve hearing and listening performance. Use the following tips to facilitate conversations with someone who has a hearing problem.
Tips for Communicating With Hard of Hearing Elderly Loved Ones
- Respectfully get the senior’s attention before speaking. Polite ways to do so include stepping into their line of sight, calmly waving a hand in their direction or lightly tapping on their shoulder. Try not to startle the person, though.
- Eliminate as much background noise as possible, including music, television sound and other people’s conversations. This can be difficult or impossible in public settings like loud restaurants and at social gatherings. Choosing quieter locations or requesting seating in less crowded areas can help minimize ambient noise and distractions and facilitate communication.
- Conversations with multiple people are often challenging for someone with hearing loss to follow. In group settings, try to make sure only one person talks at a time. Side conversations and talking over one another can make it confusing and overwhelming for a hearing impaired person to participate.
- Face the person and enunciate while speaking, but don’t exaggerate your speech. The same applies to your tone and voice volume. Some seniors with age-related hearing loss benefit from a speaker using a slightly raised voice, but don’t shout. Be mindful to speak at a reasonable speed as well—not too fast but not too slowly either.
- When conversing with someone who has hearing loss, it’s important to remember they may not fully comprehend what you’ve said on the first try. You might need you to repeat yourself. If they seem confused, don’t hesitate to ask if they’ve understood. When repeating, try using the exact same words and phrasing a couple of times. Exact repetition may help them piece together the entire thought you’re expressing, whereas constantly changing what you’re saying can be counterproductive and may make them doubt what they thought you said initially.
- If repetition isn’t serving either of you well, then take a shot at rephrasing what you’re trying to convey. Try shortening and simplifying your question or statement and see if that helps.
- Proper lighting and visibility can help elders who are hearing impaired use visual cues to better understand what is being said to them. Be sure to face the person directly while speaking and try to maintain normal eye contact.
Even if an elder with hearing loss never studied lip-reading, they can gain a great deal of information by looking at a speaker’s mouth, facial expressions and body language. Avoid hiding your mouth, looking around, eating or chewing gum while conversing since this can interfere with their ability to hear or interpret what you’re saying. Sometimes gestures can help get an idea across but be respectful and remember that miming is different from American Sign Language (ASL). - Always exercise patience when conversing with someone who is hard of hearing. If you get frustrated, take a deep breath and consider how difficult the situation must be for them. As much as you want the person with hearing loss to hear what you have to say, remember that they also want to be able to listen, understand and participate in this exchange. Misunderstandings and awkward moments are bound to happen, but try to keep things light and continue the interaction.
- Coping with hearing loss is often a cooperative effort. There are many different types of hearing loss and degrees of hearing impairment. Each person has their own preferred means of effectively communicating, so don’t hesitate to ask the person how you can help improve your interaction. If verbal communication is not successful, switch your approach. Try writing down what you want to say, using respectful gestures, or typing out your question or statement on your phone and showing it to the person.
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If you think someone you love has a new or worsening hearing problem, suggest they see a doctor for a hearing test. A specialist can determine the cause of their hearing issue, offer potential solutions and recommend techniques for better communication that will help them navigate social situations and maintain their quality of life.
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Sources: Hearing Loss: A Common Problem for Older Adults (//www.nia.nih.gov/health/hearing-loss-common-problem-older-adults#communicate)
Working with patients who are cognitively impaired presents an ongoing communication challenge. For instance, they likely will have trouble following any instructions about their care, including how and when to take prescriptions. Make sure someone can closely monitor care management, and try to involve a care partner whenever possible.
- Try to address the patient directly, even if his or her cognitive capacity is diminished.
- Gain the person's attention. Sit in front of and at the same level as him or her and maintain eye contact.
- Speak distinctly and at a natural rate of speed. Resist the temptation to speak loudly.
- Help orient the patient. Explain (or re-explain) who you are and what you will be doing.
- If possible, meet in surroundings familiar to the patient. Consider having a family member or other familiar person present at first.
- Support and reassure the patient. Acknowledge when responses are correct.
- If the patient gropes for a word, gently provide assistance.
- Make it clear that the encounter is not a "test" but rather a search for information to help the patient.
- Use simple, direct wording. Present one question, instruction, or statement at a time.
- If the patient hears you but does not understand you, rephrase your statement.
- Although open-ended questions are advisable in most interview situations, patients with cognitive impairments often have difficulty coping with them. Consider using a yes-or-no or multiple-choice format.
- Remember that many older people have hearing or vision problems, which can add to their confusion.
- Consider having someone call the patient to follow up on instructions after outpatient visits.
- If the patient can read, provide written instructions and other background information about the problem and options for solutions.
- Address potential issues of driving, getting lost, and home safety each time you see the patient. And, encourage regular physical activity, social activity, hobbies, and intellectual stimulation, as well as a healthy diet. Some studies link these approaches to the maintenance of cognitive function.
This content is provided by the NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA). NIA scientists and other experts review this content to ensure it is accurate and up to date.
Content reviewed: May 17, 2017
Hearing aids are beneficial in many situations. However, there are some listening events where hearing aids alone cannot provide enough benefit. In those situations, communication partners can help the person with hearing loss be more successful in hearing. Remember, communication involves at least two individuals: a talker who sends the message, and a listener who receives the message. You, as a member of this communication pair, can improve the conversation by following a few simple strategies.
Gain attention
Gain the listener's attention before you begin talking, for example, by saying his or her name. If the person with hearing loss hears better from one ear, move to that side of the person. Also consider touching the listener's hand, arm or shoulder lightly to gain attention. These simple gestures will prepare the individual with hearing loss to listen and not miss the first part of the conversation.
Maintain eye contact
Face the person who has the hearing loss. Make eye contact. Your facial expressions and body language add vital information to the message being conveyed. For example, you can "see" a person's excitement, joy, confusion or frustration by watching the facial expressions or body language.
Keep hands away from face
When talking, try to keep your hands away from your face. You will produce clearer speech and allow the listener to make use of those visual cues by keeping your mouth and face visible.
In addition, most listeners can improve their perception by watching the talker’s face – also known as speechreading. Speechreading helps to improve speech perception. Many sounds can been seen that are hard to hear. For example, the sound /s/ is very difficult to hear but easily speechread. It is important to not over exaggerate your talking, talk with food in your mouth or chew gum when talking to a person with hearing loss. Keep in mind that heavy beards and moustaches can also hide your mouth.
Speak naturally
Speak distinctly, but without exaggeration. You do not need to shout. Shouting actually distorts the words. Try not to mumble, as this is very hard to understand, even for people with normal hearing. Speak at a normal rate, not too fast or too slow. Use pauses rather than slow speech to give the person time to process speech. Give clues when changing subjects or say “new topic."
Rephrase rather than repeat
If the listener has difficulty understanding something you said, repeat it once. If they are still having difficulty find a different way of saying it. Use different words with the same meaning. For example: “I am going to the grocery store." Repeat once and then rephrase. “I am going to the supermarket," If he or she did not understand the words the first time, it's likely he or she will not understand them a second time. So, try to rephrase it. Another option is to ask what the person did not understand and just repeat that phrase or word. For example, "grocery store" is what was not understood, so just repeat those words "grocery store."
Talk away from background noise
Try to reduce background noises when talking. Turn off the radio or television. Move to a quiet space away from the noise source. When going to a restaurant or making dinner reservations, ask for a table away from the kitchen, server stations or large parties.
Good lighting is important
A person with hearing loss can speechread to assist in hearing so lighting on your face is important. When in a restaurant or other social gathering, sit where there is good lighting so that your face can be more easily seen. Poor lighting may cause shadows on the face of the talker. Conversely avoid sitting with strong lighting coming from behind, such as through a window, as that will cause difficulty looking into the bright light.
Use an app to translate from spoken word to written word, or use texting
There are numerous apps that can be downloaded that can allow you to speak into a smart phone and have your words show up on the screen for the person with hearing loss to read. One such app is called Dragon. The use of texting is also an efficient use to supplement communication.