Dr. Alan Carlton, Au.D., CCC-A
Spending as much time as I do in skilled nursing facilities, I enjoy observing the positive ways staff communicate with residents who are hearing impaired.
Here are four ways staff were able to effectively communicate with their hearing-impaired residents:
- Before talking to the resident, the staff got the resident’s attention.
- For a resident in a wheelchair, the staff made eye contact by getting on their same level.
- Rather than trying to answer a question in a busy dining hall, the staff member recommended that they move down the hall where it was quieter to answer the resident’s question.
- A resident asked a question and rather than just repeating the same one, the staff member re-phrased a question, rather than just repeating the same one, which the resident was having difficulty understanding.