Hello and welcome from Mia, Claire and Toby at Meadows & Wood Hearing Care Specialists.
Whilst on a care home visit last month I was discussing challenges that carers experience when attempting to chat with their residents. It’s easy to imagine a situation when the person that they care for might have limited mobility as well as poor hearing. The busy carer is often juggling tasks and alarms all while attempting to brighten the day by having a conversation with the resident.
It occurred to me that some helpful advice on how to communicate well would be very useful. Not only for our professional carers, but for anyone who may also be caring for relatives with hearing issues. Here’s our 5 top tips:
- When speaking to a hearing-impaired person, it is important that you should attract the person’s attention first, perhaps by saying their name or making eye contact.
- Speak clearly by not going too fast and saying each word fully. Also don’t cover your mouth, its important they can see it as well as your facial expressions.
- Try to minimise background noise when speaking.
- Make sure you are not too far away from the person.
- Don’t shout! If someone is still struggling, then shouting won’t really help. Louder but still controlled and clear speech is what will be more successful. When someone loses their hearing, they also lose the ability to tolerate loud sounds, so a shout is likely to seem distorted or even painful.
If you or your loved one is struggling with hearing clearly, and you would like to know how we can help, we are here for you at home or in North Somerset’s only full-time and fully independent audiology clinic. Contact details are below.
