Hearing loss is a common part of aging, and as we age, it’s likely that we will have friends who have hearing loss. Sometimes, the support of a good friend is what someone needs to begin to acknowledge and address his or her hearing loss. If your friend tells you that he or she has trouble hearing, these are some things you can do to support him or her:
Get your hearing tested, too
If a friend is nervous about getting his or her hearing tested, you can offer your support by accompanying him or her to the appointment and getting your hearing tested, too! The support of a friend can make a stressful time much easier, and you are showing your solidarity by taking the test as well.
Lend a hand
If someone is trying hearing aids, he or she will require many visits to the audiologist in the first few months. This is important because hearing aids need to be adjusted to match your friend’s hearing needs as he or she gets used to the devices; unfortunately, just one visit isn’t enough to do the trick. Offer to drive your friend to one of his or her appointments. You can also offer to pick up new batteries or take the hearing aid in to be fixed if a malfunction occurs.
Suggest solutions
Whether your friend chooses to wear hearing aids or not, he or she can benefit from many different hearing loss solutions. If you love chatting on the phone together but hearing loss makes it difficult, you can tell your friend about the CapTel captioned telephone, which displays captions so your friend can both see and hear the conversation, enabling him or her to catch every word that is said. There are other assistive listening devices available as well for many different listening situations, including personal amplifiers, which work well for one-on-one conversations or while driving in the car.
Also, if your friend hasn’t heard of them, you might want to recommend safety solutions like flashing, vibrating, or bed-shaking alarm clocks, smoke detectors and doorbells, for example.
Be compassionate
Support your friend by offering your empathy, which you can do just by listening to his or her worries or concerns. When conversation is difficult due to misunderstandings, do your best to remain calm, rather than becoming frustrated.
