MichaelSullivan
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Mar 9, 2009, 8:38 AM
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Training Personnel to Communicate More Effectively with Seniors
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By Michael P. Sullivan - 50-Plus Communications Consulting - www.graymoney.biz
Because most retirement home residents are in their 60s, 70s and 80s and staffers are much younger, communications issues arise that interfere with effectively serving customers. Older adults are apt to have two types of deficits that get in the way of customer satisfaction -- hearing and information processing. Our training programs at retirement homes help staff be more effective and in the course of training improve resident satisfaction which results in more referrals.
The issue can be characterized this way: Seniors need a certain amount of information in order to be able to make a decision or satisfy a need. Hearing and information processing deficits interrupt the receipt of information.
The older person may not be able to make a decision or answer questions. He or she must then try to get more information, resulting in more time spent and frustration and annoyance on the part of the resident.
Communications problems are a combination of natural biological aging and inherent aging characteristics. In any case, failure to deal directly with communications deficits must inevitably lead to lower levels of customer satisfaction.
There are two areas of information processing to cover in training the staff to deal with older adults. They include general concepts and general applications.
General concepts include what they need to know about communicating effectively with older adults. General applications cover how to create explanations and descriptions that are easier to process and comprehend.
Specific training in these techniques will enable staff to recognize hearing deficits and take appropriate action to improve residents’ receipt of information and satisfaction levels.
Hearing Deficits
According to the National Institute of Health, one-third of those over age 65 have some actual hearing loss, while 60% of men at that age are “hearing-impaired.” The problem is less at younger ages and worse at older ages.
Symptoms of hearing deficits include difficulty hearing on the telephone; sound distortion and increased sensitivity to loud and extraneous noises; misunderstanding what others are saying and responding inappropriately.
They also include difficulty hearing vowel sounds in the lower notes and consonant sounds in the higher range; loss of high frequency that makes some words unintelligible and the reduction in ability to distinguish two or more sounds in close succession.
Additionally, there is the inability to distinguish among similar sounds, even if volume is raised and difficulty understanding specific sounds, such as s, sh, ch, th, and f. Those sounds occurring at the end of a word or sentence are even more difficult to understand.
Louder is not necessarily better in dealing with these symptoms. Hearing aids used by older residents are only electrical amplifiers of sound that may or may not correct a hearing impairment. As people age, they often are unable to judge how loudly they speak, and may shout without realizing it. There is a tendency for the pitch of the voice to increase with advancing age. Speech becomes slurred or deteriorates because the speaker can no longer hear clearly what he or she is saying.
A key factor in hearing deficits is the slowing of the central nervous system as an individual ages. Sounds pile up in the ear before they can be transmitted to the brain. Because they pile up, sounds overlap, distorting or obliterating other sounds. Hence, the listener’s brain correctly receives only a portion of the sounds transmitted.
A number of techniques are available to counter the symptoms described above. For example, slowing down speech patterns has the effect of reducing sound pile-up in the ear.
Specific training in these techniques will enable staff to recognize hearing deficits and take appropriate action to improve residents’ receipt of information.
Information Processing
There is overwhelming evidence that communications simply do not get through easily or sometimes at all to many older adults.
The scientific evidence is undisputed that tapping an aging customer’s crystallized intelligence (a person’s ability to use accumulated experience and life-knowledge) will produce better results than relying on his or her fluid intelligence (speed and accuracy of taking in, processing, and comprehending information) when information is unfamiliar and complex.
Because fluid intelligence must be used to comprehend much of the information a staff person provides, there is a need to train them to present that information in ways that are easier to process by connecting it to crystallized intelligence.
By Michael P. Sullivan, President, 50-Plus Communications Consulting, Charlotte, North Carolina, (704) 554-7863. Mike consults and trains staff at retirement facilities, homecare living firms, financial services and health care organizations. His book, “101 Easy Ways to Increase Business with Boomerplus Clients” is available on his website, www.graymoney.biz. Contact him at mps50plus@aol.com.
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(This post was edited by MichaelSullivan on May 6, 2009, 9:35 AM)
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