Comfort Keepers Senior In-Home Care in Tulsa, OK & Hearing Loss and Senior Citizens
Senior in-home care experts in Tulsa, OK discuss how hearing loss can impact your senior loved one
What Does It Mean to Be Deaf?
Being deaf might be much different then what you think. Senior in-home care experts recognize that the term “deaf” is often a blanket term that is used to refer to someone who is hard of hearing. The actual term “deaf” refers to an individual who has little to no hearing at all. People who are legitimately dear use sign language to communicate with those around them.
Because those two terms are often highly confused, we wanted to point out that by saying the term “hard of hearing” is used to refer to individuals who are suffering from mile to moderate hearing loss. Typically, these people who are deaf will use sign language to communicate with the individuals around them.
Due to a high degree of confusion, Comfort Keepers senior in-home care providers wanted to point out that the term “hard of hearing” is most common when referring to seniors. Hearing impaired refers to any individual who has a degree of hearing loss.
How Being Deaf Affects Elderly People in the US and Around the World
The elderly are affected by deafness in different culture around the world. It is incredibly important to look at the statistics regarding deafness and how it impacts seniors. Nearly 25% of seniors (ages 65 to 74) have disabling hearing loss. Almost 50% of those who are 75 and older suffer from disabling hearing loss. There are many studies that show that seniors can benefit highly from the use of hearing aid – however less than 30 percent have used a hearing aid or hearing device.
How to Identify if Your Loved One May Be Experiencing Sign of Deafness
Senior in-home care providers advise that you might want to watch if your senior loved one has begun to exhibit the following signs as they may point to hearing loss:
- Have difficulty hearing friends or family during visits
- Tend to read lips as opposed to listening
- Feeling frustrated when they try to hear what someone says
- Often asks for people to repeat their words
- Turns the radio or TV up to high volumes to hear it
- Feel isolated or lonely because they cannot hear everything around them
Solutions That May Be Available to Your Loved One
There are many solutions available on the marketplace for seniors who suffer from hearing loss or deafness. One of these solutions is the hearing aid – these aides can help enhance what your loved one hears. The aid can be adjusted to meet whatever volume requirements that your loved one has.
If your senior loved one uses hearing aids, there are also many other assistive devices that your loved one may enjoy. There are also listening devices that can help your loved one hear the television, any radio programs they enjoy, or music without a problem.
If you would like to learn more about deafness or hearing loss and how it affects your loved one, call Comfort Keepers senior in-home care experts today. We offer quality programs and our care team can help your loved one with all of their needs.
Sources:
https://www.aplaceformom.com/senior-care-resources/articles/hearing-loss-information
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/statistics/quick-statistics-hearing
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/age-related-hearing-loss
