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According to the National Institute on Aging, 1 in 3 people between the ages of 65 and 74, and nearly half of all people over age 75 have difficulty hearing. This means you’ll encounter lots of people living with hearing loss when you volunteer at the nursing home.
Sadly, hearing loss can lead to many problems for our residents. These include social isolation, communication breakdown, frustration, and depression. Even more unsettling, several recent studies suggest that hearing loss can speed up the progression of dementia.
Today I’m sharing 12 tips to help you communicate more effectively with residents who have hearing loss:
- Speak clearly, but avoid exaggerating your mouth movements. Many people read lips to some degree, and changing your normal speech will cause distortion. In addition, avoid talking while eating or chewing gum.
- Pause sometimes and listen to all the background noises that exist in a nursing home. You’ll probably hear voices, medical equipment, TV, overhead paging, carts rolling up and down the halls—just to name a few. When you’re visiting with a person who has hearing loss, it’s best to go to a quiet area.
- Routine resident assessments should include checking ears for excessive cerumen (ear wax). Some cerumen is normal and protective. However, when it builds up and covers the entire eardrum, this definitely can reduce the ability to hear. A medical provider can safely remove this impacted cerumen.
- Some people tend to talk very slowly when speaking with a resident experiencing hearing loss. A better option is to pause between sentences or phrases. Also, be sure to give them adequate time to listen and respond. This is especially true with residents who have hearing loss but also live with dementia.
- Verify if the resident is hearing and understanding what you’re saying. You can tactfully ask if they heard you. Also, watch their facial expression. Do they appear puzzled, or does their response match the topic of conversation? It’s not unusual for a person to be embarrassed by their hearing loss and try to hide it.
- Try writing notes if a resident has trouble understanding you. I remember several times when I thought a resident didn’t understand me because of their diagnosis of dementia. But when I wrote a note, they understood what I was talking about.
- Make use of professionals who work with residents experiencing hearing loss. Audiologists and speech-language pathologists are two excellent resources. They can provide staff education, recommendations for adaptive devices, as well as suggestions to help the resident compensate for their hearing loss.
- It’s not unusual to see well-meaning people shouting at residents with hearing loss. However, it’s more effective to speak in a normal or slightly louder volume, as shouting distorts our speech.
- Many people with hearing loss can hear lower-pitched sounds better than high-pitched sounds. I naturally have a higher-pitched voice, so I need to remember to lower my pitch (without sounding artificial) when I speak with residents who have difficulty hearing me.
- If a resident uses a hearing aid, be sure they’re wearing it and be sure the batteries are good. For residents prone to misplacing their hearing aids, many nursing homes use special clips.
- When a resident doesn’t understand what you just said, try repeating the sentence one time. If that’s not effective, try a different way of phrasing what you wish to communicate.
- It’s usually best to face the resident directly. By watching your body language and facial expression, they’ll better understand what you’re saying. However, if the resident can hear better out of one ear, try positioning yourself closer to that side.
I hope you’ve had a chance to read these other popular posts in my “Did you know?” series:
6 Tips To Help Your Residents Sleep Better
Tips For Managing Pain In Dementia
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