Don’t Start a Family Feud Because the TV Volume Is Too High This Christmas
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
There is a good chance that one or both of your parents have been hit by hearing loss. Approximately one-in-three people in the US between the ages of 65 and 74 has hearing loss, and nearly half of those older than 75 have difficulty hearing.
As the loving child, you are the one that needs to broach the issue.
The best approach is probably not telling your parents they need a hearing aid during the course of the holiday dinner. More than one family feud has been sparked by offering health guidance during the meal. Never mind politics.
But how should you have the discussion? What are the best ways to start a discussion that may have a number of steps? As 70 is the new 60 and so on, few parents want to feel old. Navigating the discussion with some finesse is critical, and here are a few suggestions about how to start and guide the discussion.
Everybody is doing it. No different than “the talk” you might have with your child, the reality is that a good portion of older Americans have hearing loss and most are doing something about it. In the grand scheme of health issues – this is an easy one to cross off the list.
Cool technology. Their grandchildren may have had to help them create their Facebook account, but for grandparents, the new technology of hearing aids is as cool as their grandchildren’s gadgets.
The data approach. Hearing loss is natural. If your Mom or Dad was an engineer, accountant, or teacher, then you may want to go with the rational approach and lay out the data. According to the CDC, 47 percent of men have hearing loss by age 80 and 36 percent of women. There is tons of data out there – click here to tap what you need to convince that parent.
This is an easy one. Getting a hearing test and getting fit for a device is easy. There will be health challenges that are tricky – this isn’t one of them.
Grandkid factor. Everyone in their life who doesn’t have hearing loss will appreciate it if they don’t have the volume up on the TV or they stop saying, “What?” all the time.
Now the tricky part -- when to raise the issue? First, do it one-on-one and make it natural. Do it while out on a walk together or during an early morning coffee when no one else is awake yet.
The message should be focused on, “This is an easy health issue to take care of. Let’s worry about the bigger ones later.”
This content series is a sponsored content series produced in partnership between GoLocal and Beltone.
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