Keeping the lines of communication open

It is important in any relationship to be able to communicate. This is especially so when you are caring for someone. It is often hampered by the fact that more than 41% of over 50 year olds have a hearing loss. This means that simple conversations can turn into disagreements when one of you hasn’t heard the other correctly. Learning to lipread and to use basic communication tactics will help. For example:-

Always make sure you are facing the other person and that your mouth is not covered by your hand (or moustache!).

Speak clearly but don’t shout. This just destroys the lip shapes and rhythm of what you are saying making it more difficult to understand.

Try to have the light on the speaker’s face not on the listener’s.

Switch off background noise if you can e.g. television, music, etc and always have a pen and paper handy to sort out misunderstandings.

To learn more why don’t you both enrol in a lipreading class? It’s fun and friendly and is often available for free. For more information please contact Alison on 01383 623708 or email alison@pendlowski.plus.com