5 Ways You Can Improve Communication with a Senior Loved One

Communication is an important part of daily life.

It allows us to get through daily tasks, relate with other people, and even express ourselves. But when you get older, certain factors serve as an obstacle for successful communication. Common examples of these factors include health problems, hearing difficulty, partial paralysis, and other complications. If your senior loved one has similar issues, it would be in your best interest to have them checked by a doctor so that you can better communicate with them.

But aside from that, there are also other ways in which you can enhance communication with a senior loved one. To help you out, we have come up with a short list of tips that you can use as a reference:

1. Be patient.
   Let your senior loved one finish a sentence before giving your answer. Interrupting them mid-sentence is not only often seen as rude, but it may also hurt your elderly parent or grandparent’s feelings.
2. Remove distractions.
   Do you usually find your senior loved one pausing between thoughts? Do the topics they talk about often seem to jumble together? Try engaging them in a conversation in a quiet and calm atmosphere. It can be at the sitting room or the bedroom, as long as the two of you have privacy together.
3. Sit beside each other.
   Or, you can also try to talk while sitting face to face. This will not only help you interpret each other’s body language more clearly, but it can also communicate sincerity while on a conversation. Don’t forget to keep eye contact too!
4. Use short sentences.
   If you can, try to break down topics to smaller bits too. This will help prevent your senior loved from being confused and will encourage them to respond as well.
5. Give chance for questions.
   Remember, holding a conversation is a two-way street. It won’t work if you’re the only one talking and the other party isn’t able to give input about the topic. On top of that, listening to your senior loved one’s questions also give you an idea about any apprehensions that they may have about the topic presented.

So, how do you exactly facilitate the opportunity for questions? Easy. After giving them a summary of important notes made during the discussion, you can simply ask them if there was anything that they needed clarification about.

Having a conversation with your senior loved one on a daily basis can help them remain mentally active and sharp. Are you looking for more ways to improve communication with your elderly family member? If your senior loved one has speech problems, Prestige Health Care Services, Inc., a Home Care Provider in Worcester, Massachusetts has a solution. We can offer you speech therapy right in the comfort of your home, along with other Adult Care Services in Massachusetts.

Do you want to know what else we can offer? You can always check our website or call us.