Communication Strategies

Effective communication skills are imperative for
living in today's interactive world.

DO:

• Face the person directly. Get their attention with a touch on the shoulder or a wave.

• Avoid noisy backgrounds for conversation.
• Spotlight your face. Avoid backlighting.
• Speak slowly and clearly, and maintain eye contact.
• Use facial expressions and gestures. Give clues when changing the subject.
• Rephrase your statement or write the message down if you are not being understood.
• Keep your hands away from your mouth or face while speaking.
• Be patient if the response seems slow.
• Talk to the person and not about him or her.

• Shout.

• Exaggerate or overemphasize lip movements. This distorts the message and makes it hard to lip read. Chew gum, eat or smoke while speaking. Long mustaches, toothpicks and pencils in the mouth also make communication less effective.

• Attempt to speak directly into a person's ear.

Effective communication skills are imperative for living in today’s interactive world. That is why we include these tips and information for you to utilize and understand. As discussed at your fitting, even the best hearing aid technology does not necessarily “cure” your hearing loss.

More About Cognition

Aural rehabilitation (“ear retraining”) is an ongoing process that requires commitment and work. As communication is a two-way street, so is rehabilitation. You, the patient, remain the driving force but your family also plays a major role. On all ends, patience and persistence will be rewarded with improved communication skills.

Hearing is a very complicated process!

A little science…

 Sound information is first transformed from an acoustic stimulus to electrical stimulus at your organ of hearing, the cochlea. This neural information then travels via the cochlear nerve to “relay stations” in the brainstem. If you follow the arrows above you can see that these centers receive information from both ears. The final destination for sound is in the auditory cortex in the temporal lobe of the brain. This is where speech is processed…more or less relating to understanding rather than hearing. Read on to find out how other functions of the brain come into the picture.

Aging and Understanding

There are several factors influencing cognition [this refers to the patient's attention, awareness, long- and short-term memory, general knowledge, abstract thinking ability, insight, and judgment ], but the body’s natural response to the aging process can also affect these functions. A patient might be getting the audibility needed for best possible hearing from the hearing aids, but the information must also be processed, stored, remembered, and retrieved.

Research studies also find that the older brain’s activation is more widespread rather than directly activated like in younger adults. However, though there might be a breakdown in processing, we also know that cognition plays a role in complex listening situations regardless of age. People with normal hearing fail to comprehend everything when background noise is present or when full attention is not paid to a stimulus.  With hearing impairment, a patient needs a better signal-to-noise ratio (i.e. speech heard over background noise, helped by hearing aid technology and/or assistive technologies and FM devices) than normal hearing peers. With a hearing impairment and cognitive decline, not only will appropriate amplification, realistic expectations, and a good listening environment matter but context of the message, word familiarity, knowledge of the topic, and clear language also will play a big role in understanding.

In summary, everyday listening involves hearing and listening as well as comprehending and communicating.

Hearing is one of our senses…it is all about your perception. We hope we have given you and your family the tools necessary for the most effective communication.