Hearing
As people age, their hearing and balance naturally
decline. Many people living with dementia will also be living with
hearing loss. Living with both can
present challenges. It is essential to
recognise and respond sensitively to hearing loss in people with
dementia.
Hearing loss makes people less aware of the environment, so they don’t notice other people, pets or activities going on around them. In addition, hearing loss can decrease spatial awareness, so being able to gauge where their body is in relation to objects around them gets trickier. Finally, hearing loss causes the brain to use more attention for hearing and interpreting speech and sound, so less attention goes towards walking or balance. These factors can all make people with hearing loss more likely to lose their balance, making tripping and falling more likely.
In addition, it is also not unusual for older people to have high levels of wax in their ears. This can cause hearing loss or ringing in the ears. This can make it more difficult to hear, meaning that hearing aids do not work effectively and some people experience vertigo, which increases the risk of falling
It is important that older people with dementia have regular/annual hearing checks, particularly because the symptoms of hearing loss can be mistaken for dementia. It can be more challenging to diagnose hearing loss for people with dementia. It is possible to adapt testing procedures so that they meet the needs of people with dementia.
Appropriately fitted hearing devices can address difficulties by increasing spatial awareness and reducing the demands on the brain to focus on hearing. Research has shown that hearing aids can improve performance on balance-related tasks. Hearing aids need to be regularly cleaned and have new batteries installed.
Where a person has dementia, people working with them may need to take additional steps to help them to manage their hearing loss. For example, a person with dementia may really struggle to adjust to using a hearing aid. They may not be able to recall that they have a hearing problem or that they have a hearing aid. They may not recognise what the hearing aid is for or when they do remember to wear it, how to use it effectively. They may fiddle with it or refuse to wear it regularly – and intermittent use may create more difficulties with remembering how to use it.
Making communication as clear as possible is important. Also, making adjustments to a person’s environment that can help manage hearing loss, for instance, limiting the amount of background noise and ensuring good lighting to enable people to lipread, as well as clearly see obstacles around them.
These links provide more details about dementia and hearing loss.