Hearing Impaired? Stay in the Conversation with These Tips!

Distracting noise, fast talking and mumbling — these circumstances and more make it a challenge for a hearing impaired individual to understand group conversations, and might cause him or her to be left out entirely. People without any hearing loss must recognize this struggle and keep in mind to speak clearly, facing the senior.

For the hearing impaired senior, here are a few strategies from our Oak Brook, IL home health care team to help you communicate:

• Tell those you are with that you are experiencing hearing loss; that way they know to adjust their speech, look at you when they are talking, or make other accommodations to help keep you in the conversation.
• Sit or stand in such a way that you can see the faces of all speakers.
• Move away from noise or other background disturbances.
• Ask people to repeat themselves when needed or repeat back the part of the sentence that you understood with a request for the speaker to repeat the part that you didn’t hear. (For instance, “You went where?” “Who was it that called you last week?”)
• Use what you know about the speaker to help provide clues on what is going on in the discussion, including the individual’s interests or habits.
• Remain updated about current events.
• Be sure you are well-rested before attending an activity where you will be participating in a lot of discussions.

It’s beneficial to know that hearing aids these days can usually compensate for the majority of hearing loss in individuals with diminished hearing, and surgery may be something for the person to consider. Check with his or her medical professional to determine whether any of the latest remedies may help, and contact Home & Hearth Caregivers for support as well. We offer specialized, experienced, in-home care for older adults with hearing loss as well as any other factors of aging, enabling older adults to remain safe, independent and thriving with home care services such as:

• Transportation to doctors’ appointments and procedures, visits with family and friends, and fun excursions
• Errand-running to pick up grocery items, prescriptions, or anything else that is requested
• Light housekeeping and meal preparation
• Friendly, nurturing companionship to participate in favorite pastimes and hobbies, conversations, exercising, etc.
• Personal care including, as appropriate, help with hygiene and bathing, getting dressed, ambulation and transferring, etc.
• And much more

You can reach us at 800-349-0663 to arrange for a free in-home evaluation and to take the first step in boosting quality of life for your senior loved one.