Christmas food for thought: Advice for families with a relative with hearing loss

As Christmas approaches we are all preparing for the festivities with Family, Friends and loved ones, but have you considered this...?

It is the Family Christmas Party, all the relatives from far and wide are invited and make their way over to your house on the chosen day at the chosen time. All ages young and old arrive for the festive fun, as the night goes on more relatives arrive settling in for a good party night. As they consume the mince-pies and cocktail sausages you prepared earlier the alcohol also starts to flow, and then the volume of the guests starts to rise…… and rise…… and rise.

Where is the problem here you ask?

There is no problem if you do not suffer from a hearing loss and wear a hearing instrument.

You know the elderly relative you have who normal has just a small drink of port or sherry or just a cup of tea and they are quite chatty when they first arrive and the house is almost empty with a golden silence running through it. Then as the house becomes busier and busier and the guests become louder and louder the elderly relative has disappeared into another room or is sitting in the corner looking miserable and fed up. They have over the years been tagged as the grumpy old so and so who nobody really bothers with much over the course of the year except at Christmas because they have feel like they too as part of the whole family gathering etc.

But have you considered why they go from social to “anti-social” in the matter of a very short space of time?

Let me give you an insight into a common problem which is simply taken for granted. The next time you are in a crowded bar or restaurant just take 10 seconds to stop and listen, not hear, but listen to the background noise, others around you near and far, the sounds of crockery, cutlery or glassware, furniture being moved around and music being played by way of creating an ambient environment. Now imagine all these sounds being amplified and played back a few inches from your ears, can you hear clearly?

This is what your hearing aid-wearing relative is living with at your Family Christmas Party. When the other guests fill the room with festivities, it sounds like a full orchestra is playing at maximum volume a few inches away from them. How do you expect them to hear you clearly?

Some simple steps to help them enjoy the Festive season can easily be achieved without taking anything away from the rest of your guests:

· When talking to a hearing aid wearer always ensure the background noise is behind them and not you. This way your voice will be heard and not mixed into the other room sounds coming over your shoulder.
· Try to find a “quiet” corner where they can sit or stand in the same room as the others, turn hi-fi speakers away from this area and remove more than one or two chairs so it does not become crowded
· Find ways of getting “louder” relatives to be slightly quieter, a simple method is talk quieter to them and they actually become quieter on their own.
· If you are having a sit down meal have the hearing aid-wearing relative at the top of the table or close to the end so the volume of others is only on one side and less people are near them so they can generally hear clearer.
· Offer them the option of helping you in the kitchen so they are in a quieter environment and can clearly hear the conversation
· Get other guests to move the party between areas so that only half of the volume of the party is in the area you have selected for them to find a comfortable spot.
· Have them participate in any party games rather than just allowing them to fade off into a quieter corner.
By considering these few steps you can provide a great Family Christmas Party for all your guests.