Do you have a loved one with hearing loss? If so, you may experience communication challenges that can take a toll on conversations. Fortuenaly, there are useful ways you can provide support!
Impact of Hearing Loss on Communication
Hearing loss is a medical condition that reduces a person’s capacity to hear and process speech as well as sound. This produces a range of symptoms that make it tough to hear. Common symptoms include: tinnitus – a ringing or buzzing noise in the ears, sounds are distorted or muffled, and difficulty hearing in places with background noise. This often causes people with hearing loss to use various strategies to try to hear. Strategies may include asking others to repeat what they said, lip reading to identify individual words, and paying attention to nonverbal cues to help follow a conversation.
Symptoms can strain communication which also impacts relationships. People often report feeling unheard or ignored by their loved one with hearing loss. While it may feel like they are not paying attention, the person with hearing loss is likely working overtime in trying to hear because it requires more work for them. It is important to understand this so that you can be more patient and willing to explore communications strategies.
Effective Communication Strategies
Effective communication requires everyone involved. There are useful ways you can provide support for your loved one with hearing loss. Practicing the following strategies can support their hearing and communication needs:
- Use effective communication strategies. It is important to ask your loved one how to best meet their hearing needs. They likely know of several adjustments or tips you can use to best support their hearing. This can include:
- Grabbing their attention before starting a conversation. You can do this by tapping them on the shoulder or calling their name. This allows them to be ready for the conversation.
- Speaking in a natural voice, taking pauses between sentences. Avoid projecting or yelling which can further distort sound.
- Rephrase rather than repeat something if your loved one didn’t hear it.
- Use gestures and body language.
- Intervene if people are speaking over each other.
- Pay attention to their cues and ask if you can clarify if they seem confused or lost during the conversation.
- Send any detailed information like addresses, dates, phone numbers etc.
Practicing these strategies can facilitate effective communication that makes having conversations are more comfortable.
- Reduce background noise. Another useful strategy is to reduce background noise as much as possible. Background noise can be challenging for anyone but especially for people with hearing loss. It creates additional noise that the brain has to also process and filter through. The brain is already working hard, using additional resources, to process sound so adding more noise to this can be challenging. It is useful to reduce background noise as much as possible which you can do by: powering off any music or TV that may be playing in the background, or maintaining low volume settings, avoiding using noisy kitchen or household appliances while having a conversation, avoiding noisy settings like busy restaurants (especially during peak hours), opt for quieter settings to have conversations in, put phones on silent etc.
- Avoid multitasking. Though it is common to multitask during conversations, this can also produce hearing challenges. Doing things like washing the dishes, texting, cooking, running errands etc. produces more noise to have to process. It also can be distracting, preventing people from being fully present and engaging in conversation. It is useful to be completely present and available for conversations with your loved one. This allows you to pay attention to and support their hearing needs effectively.
- Be intentional about environmental factors. There are a few environmental factors that you should think about. This includes lighting, noise, and seating. You want to make sure that the spaces you are in with your loved one are well lit so that people speaking are fully visible. If you are in your homes, be sure to avoid dimming the light too much. Also avoid places with excessive background noise and opt for quieter settings to have conversations in. Lasly, support your loved one sitting in the center (at a dinner table) which allows them to see more people.
Implementing these strategies supports effective and useful communication. This not only strengthens communication but also your relationship!