Untreated Hearing Loss

By Kelly Kolonay, AuD

Our Unrealistic Expectations

Untreated hearing loss (i.e. not wearing hearing aids) has been linked to numerous health complications such as diabetes, hypertension, depression, anxiety, and even cognitive decline. However, an estimated 28 million people in the United States experience some type of treatable hearing loss. Yet, less than a quarter of those people seek help to enhance their listening lifestyle.

Why?

One answer is the unrealistic expectation attached to hearing aids: that hearing aids are going to return hearing back to “normal”. Unfortunately, this is not the case. An individual with hearing loss needs to utilize effective communication strategies in conjunction with hearing aids. Combining the hearing and visual senses sets a hard of hearing individual up for less communication breakdown, positive relationships, and ultimately a better quality of life.

Untreated Hearing Loss Evaluation

You or your loved one should get your hearing evaluated by an Audiologist if you are experiencing any of the following:

Muffled, mumbled speech sounds
Trouble understanding when a speaker’s face is unseen
Difficulty hearing on the telephone
Difficulty hearing people speak in a crowd (i.e. background noise)
Trouble understanding the voices of women or children
Friends or loved ones complaining you turn the volume of your TV or radio too loud

Effective Communication Strategies

Communication is a two-way street. Good communication requires the efforts of at least two people, even when one of them is utilizing hearing aids.

Tips for Communicating with Individuals with Hearing Loss:

Always face the person you are speaking withMake your mouth visible
Avoid noisy backgrounds
Get attention first e.g. “Jim, could you pass the vegetables?”
Don’t shout. Shouting distorts your face and mouth
Speak clearly, at moderate pace
Rephrase if you are not understood and try different words
Use facial expression and/or gestures
Be patient if response is slow. Making sense of conversation takes time and is fatiguing
Stay positive and relaxed

Tips for Communicating as an Individual with Hearing Loss:

Anticipate difficult situations, plan how to minimize them.
Pay attention. Watch, listen & concentrate to follow conversation
Look for visual cues like facial expressions, gestures and body language
Don’t interrupt. Let conversation flow to gain more meaning
Admit if you are lost
Conversation can be tiring. If too tired to concentrate, ask for discussion later

For more information on untreated hearing loss, contact us today!

Kelly Kolonay, AuD obtained her doctorate in Audiology from Pacific University in Portland, Oregon and is currently practicing as a Doctor of Audiology in Phoenix, Arizona. Kelly is passionate about working with the veteran population. She specializes in hearing aids, aural rehabilitation, central auditory processing disorders, and tinnitus management. Kelly is the daughter of Bobbi Kolonay RN MS CCM the owner of Holistic Aging – Options For Elder Care.

Posted in Communication, Hearing Loss

Holistic Aging - Options for Elder Care

4.4

Based on 11 reviews

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Lori Wynn

17:57 10 Jan 21

As a physical therapist over the last year, I have worked with some of the clients of Holistic Aging. The clients are... accompanied by the excellent caregivers of Holistic Aging to their appointments. I have spent a good amount of time witnessing the way that these caregivers attend to their clients. The clients are treated by the staff like they are family. The details of their lives are well known and their well-being is top priority. On numerous occasions, I have needed to communicate with the staff, and this is always seamless. If I had family in need of elder care, I would be eager to have one of these exceptionally caring staff of Holistic Aging be a part of the team.read more

Julie Densmore

19:52 10 Aug 20

The Best Medical Investment and Care Decision Our Family Has MadeI highly recommend Holistic Aging for their Life Care... Manager support of an aging loved one who may be living in the Pittsburgh area. Bobbi and her team of qualified individuals are compassionate and trained in geriatric care management. They have provided unsurpassed medical and general support for my 85 year old mother-in-law (MIL) over the past 2 years while we are living on the West Coast. Their services provide us with peace-of-mind and confidence that our loved one is safe and cared for even when we cannot be present. Their expert care has enabled my MIL to live comfortably alone in her home. They have helped to systematically address and resolve my MILs growing medical issues and ensure that her most pressing challenges are adequately managed. Our life care manager, Kristi - who is a RN - accompanies my MIL to all doctor appointments to ask the right questions during the visit. Kristi maintains a comprehensive picture of my MIL's health conditions and acts as her personal advocate at all doctor visits. We chose Holistic Aging for their fusion of both East and Western treatment modalities that are tailored to the unique individual so along with medical care, my MIL has received acupuncture, nutritional supplements, massage, and myofacial release therapies - all considered to be "alternative" to treatments and normally would not have been offered. However, each of these treatments have majorly improved my MIL's well-being so we welcome the East/West treatment fusion that Holistic Aging provides. We are incredibly grateful and impressed with the service that Holistic Aging provides for our family. I highly recommend them for care of a loved one. Thank you Bobbi and Kristi!read more

Carina Didiano

01:49 20 Aug 18

I just wanted to say how much I appreciate Renee’s work as a nurse with her clients, who are in their early 90’s. I... have worked with her for a while now and she has such a good heart, especially when it comes to her clients well being. She always goes above and beyond for all of them! She deserves the recognition.read more

Dianna Long

01:25 30 Jan 18

Personally sought advice and counsel from the owner - very helpful and knowledgeable about reimbursement and geriatric... aging. Owner keeps up to date on all related geriatric trends and medication trends. True desire to change and help the lives of those aging - to improve the quality of life and ensure maximum reimbursement.read more

Morgan Grimes

20:33 07 Nov 17

Not only does this agency provide excellent care for their cliental, they are a wonderful agency to work for. The... office staff is compassionate and caring not only about their work but their employees as well. The entire staff has very open communication that makes the care individualized and highly affective.read more

Holistic Aging Client

18:23 05 Sep 17

It is difficult to put into words how much Susan’s work with Holistic Aging has meant to our family. After my father... passed away, he left behind our widowed mother, physically weak, depressed and living at some distance from family. She was vulnerable in so many ways, needing help with things including medical and nursing care, physical therapy, transportation, financial protection, troubleshooting and coordinating a complex array of services. We found that we just couldn’t manage everything from a distance, and that what we needed more than anything else was someone acting as Mom’s advocate and coordinating her access to needed supports. Susan stepped in and really took charge of the situation, keeping tabs on everything happening on the medical front, not only making sure that key appointments were made and kept, but also accompanying Mom to them and maintaining organized health reports. Susan ensured that no one was taking financial advantage, that in-home caregivers were providing adequate support, and even that home maintenance problems were addressed. She really made an effort to understand our mother and her unique needs. Susan was willing to play bad cop as necessary, dismissing caregivers who weren’t up to the job, arranging for better ones to be put in place, making sure that physical therapy proceeded on schedule, and pushing back on advice from any service sellers that didn’t serve our mother’s interests. Because Susan was so organized, committed, and pro-active, we are in a much improved situation now: Mom’s health, mental outlook and physical conditioning are all better than they were a couple of years ago. Having Susan there was the closest thing we could manage to actually having a family member on-site to look after our mother.read more

Rebekah Simpson

13:12 19 Oct 16

Bobbi and her team of care manager's have been a "God Send" to our family. My mother has Alzheimer's disease and with... family all over the country, we were not able to assist mom with the needed care she required to continue to live a meaningful life. A friend of ours had used Options For Elder Care services and highly recommend them. They know everything there is to know about Alzheimer's, not only improving my mom's life but realizing the stress of our entire family. We will continue to have challenges as mom progresses through Alzheimer's but feel confident being directed by this care management company.read more

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