One aspect of hearing loss that not a lot of people talk about is its ability to cause feelings of isolation and loneliness. When a person loses the ability to verbally engage with those around him, he might struggle to find new ways to stay connected with those he loves and his community. A companion care at home provider can come and spend time with your loved one and help him feel less isolated due to his hearing loss.
Symptoms of Age-Related Hearing Loss (Presbycusis)
Presbycusis often comes on slowly for many elderly people so they may suffer from hearing loss without realizing it at first. For some individuals, only certain types of sounds will be affected while others may find their hearing loss is a gradual loss of all sounds.
Some common symptoms that you and your loved one may notice regarding his hearing loss include:
- Conversations become nearly impossible to follow in loud environments such as restaurants.
- High-pitched sounds are no longer responded to. He might not hear an alarm or ringing nearby.
- Women’s and children’s voices get more difficult for him to process. He might ask for something to be repeated numerous times.
- He has tinnitus, a constant ringing or humming in his ears.
- He has to keep increasing the volume on his television or phone to hear properly or he has become completely reliant on closed captioning on TV to understand what is going on.
- He may become sensitive to overly loud noises or heavy bases.
Tips for Communicating with someone with Presbycusis
While your loved one should work with his physician for medical devices and relief, you can take steps at home as well to help ensure your loved one can still communicate with you and other guests.
To start with, don’t be shy about telling others about your loved one’s hearing loss and guiding them through the best ways to communicate with him.
Providing them with these tips will help ensure everyone enjoys their time spent with their elderly loved ones.
- Always make sure you have your loved one’s attention before you start a conversation. Make eye contact and then begin speaking.
- When possible, make the area as quiet as possible before you start talking. Turn off the TV or move to a quiet room away from too many people.
- Speak slowly and clearly. You don’t need to yell but use a strong voice and do your best to enunciate all words correctly. It can help to use shorter words and sentences to communicate.
- If something isn’t understood, rephrase what you said instead of repeating it. He might be able to pick up words from both statements and determine the meaning.
- Be patient. Sometimes a person will say “what” because they are still processing what you said. Give them time to process what was communicated. Never say “never mind” in an angry way.
Companion Care at Home Providers Can Reduce Feelings of Isolation
If your loved one is an introvert or struggles in social situations, especially with his hearing loss, he might find it beneficial to have one or two safe people with which to connect and communicate. A companion care at home provider can be his “hearing aid” so he can go out on walks or run errands. They can help him navigate a world that he doesn’t always hear perfectly so he can still be a part of it.
If you or an aging loved one are considering Companion Care at Home Services in Dix Hills NY, please contact the caring staff at Star Multi Care today. Call (631) 424-7827
Star Multi Care is a Trusted Home Care Agency serving Long Island and in NYC including Dix Hills, Floral Park, Great Neck, Huntington, Manhasset, Massapequa, Northport, Plainview, Rockville Center, Stony Brook, Suffolk County, Nassau County, and Queens County.
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