Hearing impairment is one of the medical challenges that seniors experience. It is ascribed to many causes, including increasing age, exposure to loud noise, infections and other medical conditions. This challenge poses a difficulty to aging adults and can initiate a cycle of many health-related issues, including depression and other mental-health-related disorders.
Indeed, hearing difficulties can have debilitating effects on the quality of life of your loved ones; however, you can help them navigate through this season. Here are some ways to help and tips for maintaining effective communication with them.
Maintain Positive Body Language and Eye Contact
In many instances, your body language speaks volumes of what you intend to say in words. Although they may not hear clearly, your loved ones can see and perceive your excitement and joy as well as frustrations and confusion and thus can comprehend the information.
Maintain eye contact and keep your hands off your voice. It helps you produce a clearer speech, and your loved ones, in turn, can lipread to have a firm grasp of the message.
Eliminate Background Noise
Make sure to reduce background noises that can act as interference when communicating with them. Reduce sounds coming from the radio and television. However, if you cannot control the conduits for the noise, consider moving away to a quiet environment before initiating conversations.
Ensure Adequate Lighting
Many times, people with hearing difficulties switch to speechreading to aid comprehension. Therefore, holding conversations in an environment with proper lighting is advisable. Your loved ones can see you clearly, read the words as they come off your lips and correctly comprehend your message.
Consider Acoustics
The conditions of some rooms have an impact on the sound conveyed; this is termed acoustics. Avoid places that support echoes, for instance, an empty room. They make hearing much more difficult. Instead, hold conversations in well-padded rooms – rooms with absorbing materials like drapes, rugs, carpets or foams.
Consider Moving to a Retirement Community
Communicating with and helping loved ones with hearing challenges might be difficult. If your loved ones stay in a private apartment, you can consider supporting them to move and settle in a retirement community. These communities are better equipped to help aging adults with impaired hearing.
How a Retirement Community Helps Residents with Hearing Impairment
Since retirement communities seek to make sure that residents live comfortably and conveniently in the community, they play a crucial role in helping aging adults with hearing difficulties.
As a part of senior living services, the community offers a Dimensions health and fitness program that caters to residents’ health needs. Alongside other first-class amenities, the community provides a well-equipped wellness center that promotes a good lifestyle for aging adults regardless of their health challenge(s).
Well-trained and experienced team members and healthcare givers direct concerned residents to social activities and events that help them improve. As a result, your loved ones do not feel left out. Instead, these activities strengthen their connection to the community and improve their mental and emotional well-being.
The community aims to guide them through this challenge and help them to regain function so they can enjoy the provisions of independent living to the fullest.
Truthfully, having your loved ones experience hearing difficulty can be challenging. However, with your help and retirement communities, communication can be easy, and your loved ones can live out their golden years happily.
