Whether it’s a close friend, family member, or spouse, it’s only natural to want the best for the health and well-being of the people you care about. However, supporting a loved one with hearing loss can feel challenging, especially if you’re unsure how to help in meaningful ways.
At NewSound Hearing Centers, our team of hearing care specialists are here to help you navigate this journey with compassion, understanding, and expert advice.
How You Can Support a Loved One with Hearing Loss
Hearing loss affects more than just the ability to hear. It can impact relationships, self-confidence, and quality of life. If someone you care about is struggling with hearing loss, your support can make a world of difference.
Below you will find practical tips and resources to guide you in supporting a loved one with hearing loss every step of the way:
Day-to-Day Communication Tips
There are many simple things you can do to make day-to-day communication easier for a loved one with hearing loss:
These small, yet mindful adjustments can significantly reduce listening effort, improve communication, and help ensure your loved one remains involved and engaged in conversations.
Encourage Hobbies and Social Interactions
Hearing loss can lead to feelings of isolation and withdrawal from activities and social situations. Actively encouraging hobbies and social interactions can significantly enhance your loved one’s well-being and reduce the risk of depression and even cognitive decline.
It’s important to encourage them to keep doing the things they love every day, and if needed, help them find new ways to participate with accommodations for their hearing needs. It can also be helpful to join them and participate in these activities and social gatherings as well. Your presence can boost their confidence and make communication feel easier or less intimidating.
Practice Patience and Compassion
Supporting someone with hearing loss means recognizing that communication may take more time and effort for both of you. Frustration can build on either side but meeting these moments with patience and empathy can ease tension and foster more effective communication.
This compassion can go a long way in helping your loved one feel supported, valued, and less alone in their experience.
Remember You’re Not Alone
Supporting someone with hearing loss can be emotionally and mentally challenging. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed or unsure of how to help—but you’re not alone. Our dedicated team of hearing care specialists at NewSound Hearing Centers in Houston are here to support you and your loved one every step of the way.
Take the first step towards getting the personalized care you know they deserve by contacting us today.
How to Encourage a Loved One to Wear Hearing Aids
Encouraging a loved one to wear hearing aids can be a delicate task. Discussions about health can be a sensitive topic to broach, and hearing is no different. At NewSound Hearing Centers, we want to help you approach this conversation with respect, compassion, and confidence.
Below, you’ll find helpful strategies for starting the conversation, addressing concerns, and guiding your loved one toward the life-changing benefits of hearing aids:
Do Some Research
Researching the symptoms, daily challenges, and the impact of hearing loss on quality of life is an important step in learning how to provide truly meaningful support. A great place to start is using our hearing loss simulator, which lets you experience what different levels of hearing loss sound like.
Taking the time to explore tools like this and researching things like communication strategies and care solutions can deepen your understanding and help you make a real difference their daily quality life.
Being informed can also go a long way in showing your loved one that you are committed to supporting them no matter where they are on their journey to better hearing.
Normalize Hearing Healthcare
Over 22% of people between the ages of 65-74 have hearing loss, and 55% of people over the age 75 have disabling hearing loss.1 Just like routine eye exams and wearing eyeglasses for visions, getting hearing tests and using hearing devices are a normal part of healthcare.
Framing hearing loss as the common and treatable condition that it is, can help reduce any stigma or hesitations that your loved one may feel. When hearing healthcare is treated like common sense, it can become easier to take that first step toward getting help.
Listen to Them
It’s important to take time to ask your loved one about any hesitations or concerns they have surrounding hearing aids or hearing loss care. They may have fears about stigma, frustration with past experiences, or worries about the cost or comfort of hearing devices.
Listening without pressure helps create space for honest dialogue and can uncover barriers that you can help them overcome. Sometimes, simply feeling heard is the first step toward being ready for change.
Appeal to Their Interests
When encouraging a loved one to address their hearing loss, it can be helpful to focus on how better hearing can enhance the things they care about. Whether it’s enjoying phone calls with grandkids, watching their favorite shows, or participating in hobbies and social events, all of these things are more accessible with healthy hearing.
Plus, many of today’s prescription hearing devices are sleek, discreet, and packed with easy to use, smart features that enhance all these activities. Some models have Bluetooth connectivity for streaming audio directly to your ears from phone calls, TV dialogue, and more. Advanced hearing devices can even come with artificial intelligence (AI) built into their sound processors, so they automatically optimize sound quality and speech clarity in any environment.
When they see how prioritizing their hearing health can help them do more of what they love, they may feel more open to seeking care and giving hearing aids a try.
Suggest Alternatives or Next Steps
If your loved one isn’t ready to book an appointment right away, that’s okay. The goal isn’t to push them, but to provide clear, supportive pathways forward, and meeting them where they are is key.
Consider offering low-pressure options, like taking a free online hearing test. This can be a helpful, non-intimidating first step that raises awareness and helps them recognize potential hearing issues without the pressure of a clinic visit.
You can also gently share the contact information for our hearing clinic in Houston so they have it when they’re ready. This gives them control over the next step and makes it easy to reach out on their own terms.
Don’t Give Up
Change can take time, especially when it comes to something as personal as hearing loss care. If your loved one resists the conversation at first, try not to take it personally or lose hope. Keep showing up with kindness, patience, and encouragement. Your support makes a bigger difference than you may realize.
And remember, the friendly and experienced specialists at NewSound Hearing Centers are always here to help.
Hearing Loss and Quality of Life Statistics
If your loved one is experiencing hearing loss, understanding the unique challenges associated with this condition is essential. While communication struggles are often the most noticeable signs, the effects of the condition are far-reaching.
Hearing loss can also have a profound impact on a person’s emotional wellbeing, cognitive function, physical health and safety, and even their independence:
Support Starts Here: Contact NewSound Hearing Centers in Houston Today
When it comes to helping a loved one navigate the challenges of hearing loss, support is the most powerful tool at your disposal. NewSound Hearing Centers in Houston is here to support both you and your loved one. Whether you need help starting the conversation, finding the right hearing devices, or booking that first appointment, we’re here to guide you through every step of the process.
Contact us or call (713) 997-8568 to get in touch today.
References
- Quick statistics about hearing, balance, & dizziness. (2024, September 20). NIDCD. https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/statistics/quick-statistics-hearing
- Huang, A. R., Roth, D. L., Cidav, T., Chung, S., Amjad, H., Thorpe, R. J., Boyd, C. M., & Cudjoe, T. K. M. (2023). Social isolation and 9‐year dementia risk in community‐dwelling Medicare beneficiaries in the United States. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 71(3), 765–773. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.18140
- Wang, H., Zhang, W., Rolls, E. T., Li, Y., Wang, L., Ma, Y., Kang, J., Feng, J., Yu, J., & Cheng, W. (2022). Hearing impairment is associated with cognitive decline, brain atrophy and tau pathology. EBioMedicine, 86, 104336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2022.104336
- Huang, A. R., Jiang, K., Lin, F. R., Deal, J. A., & Reed, N. S. (2023). Hearing loss and dementia prevalence in older adults in the US. JAMA, 329(2), 171. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2022.20954
- Hearing aids slow cognitive decline in people at high risk. (2023c, September 14). National Institute on Aging. https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/hearing-aids-slow-cognitive-decline-people-high-risk
- Martinez-Amezcua, P., Powell, D., Kuo, P., Reed, N. S., Sullivan, K. J., Palta, P., Szklo, M., Sharrett, R., Schrack, J. A., Lin, F. R., & Deal, J. A. (2021). Association of Age-Related Hearing impairment with Physical Functioning among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in the US. JAMA Network Open, 4(6), e2113742. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.13742
- Campos, L., Prochazka, A., Anderson, M., Kaizer, A., Foster, C., & Hullar, T. (2023). Consistent hearing aid use is associated with lower fall prevalence and risk in older adults with hearing loss. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 71(10), 3163–3171. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.18461
- Dalton, D. S., Cruickshanks, K. J., Klein, B. E. K., Klein, R., Wiley, T. L., & Nondahl, D. M. (2003). The impact of hearing loss on quality of life in older adults. The Gerontologist, 43(5), 661–668. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/43.5.661