Hearing Loss and Dementia: What Do You Need to Know?
Have you noticed your elderly loved one is experiencing hearing issues? Do they have a dementia diagnosis? Hearing issues are quite common in dementia patients. There are many reasons for this. One of the most common reasons is that they can’t comprehend what is being said. They may miss a few of the words you or their elder care providers said, so it may seem they didn’t hear you.
There are some tips for family caregivers if their elderly loved one who has dementia is experiencing hearing loss or hearing issues.
Use Simple and Short Sentences
Elder Care Chantilly, VA: Hearing Loss and Dementia
If you are trying to get your elderly loved one to understand you better, make sure to use simple and short sentences. If the sentences are too long, your elderly loved one may miss words you are saying or get confused. If that happens, they may not be able to respond or react in the way that you would like. So, for example, you may need your elderly loved one to sit down to eat dinner. Instinctively, you might say, “Go sit down at the table and get ready to eat dinner because it will be there in just a minute.” Instead, you could say, “Please sit at the table.” Then, after they do that, you could add another sentence.
Make Sure to Use Appropriate Body Language
Since your elderly loved one can’t always comprehend your verbal language, they will likely pay attention to what your body is telling them. For example, if you want your elderly loved one to do something, but your body language says you are upset, they will be less likely to listen. If you want your elderly loved one to stop being agitated, put a smile on your face and say something in a calm voice. The reassuring presence can help your elderly loved one to feel less upset. Body language can make more of an impact than you think. If you aren’t sure what to do, you can watch the elder care providers with your elderly loved one. They may have experience with dementia patients and know more of what to do.
Be Patient
The best thing you can do if your elderly loved one has hearing loss issues due to dementia is to be patient. They can’t control what is happening to their body. You can do things differently to help your elderly loved one understand you better. However, they aren’t capable of trying to make a lot of changes on their end. Keep this in mind when you are trying to cope with your elderly loved one’s hearing loss or other hearing issues.
Conclusion
These are some of the things that you need to know about hearing loss and dementia. Now that you know about these things, you can better handle the hearing issues that your elderly loved one is having. If needed, don’t forget to talk with or watch the elder care providers. They may have more ideas of how to handle this issue.
If you or an aging loved-one is considering Elder Care in Chantilly, VA please contact the caring staff at Butters Home Health Care today. (703) 371-2113
Sources
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4075051/