How to communicate with someone with hearing loss.

Today we wanted to give you some tips on how to communicate with older people who may be experiencing some issues with their hearing.

1. Tip Number 1 is embrace Face-to-Face Communication: When engaging in conversation, ensure you face the person directly. Maintaining eye contact allows for better lip-reading and understanding through facial expressions and body language.
   
2. Number 2 – Speak Clearly and at a Moderate pace. Adjust the pace you speak to their ability to understand, be careful, talking too slowly could come across as patronising.
   
3. Number 3 – Choose Quiet Environments: Opt for quiet spaces when chatting and Reduce background noise such as TVs.
   
4. Number 4 – make sure environments are well lit as dark places will hinder lip reading and the ability to understand facial expressions and body language.
   
5. Number 5 – Captioned Content: When sharing videos or multimedia content, ensure they come with captions. This small adjustment ensures that older people with hearing loss can fully enjoy and understand the content you are sharing and this encourages inclusivity and participation. We don’t want people feeling excluded because we have been too lazy to add captions or subtitles.
   
6. Number 6 – Familiarize yourself with hearing aid technology. Offer assistance in adjusting settings, changing batteries, and ensuring their hearing aids are functioning correctly.
   
7. Number 7 – When feasible, supplement verbal communication with written information. This could be as easy as leaving a sticky note on the fridge, or sending a text message.
   
8. Lastly, Be Patient and Repeat: Patience is key. If they miss something, graciously repeat or rephrase. It fosters a supportive and understanding atmosphere.

Hearing and sight loss care Guildford. Hearing and sight loss care Woking.

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