How to Communicate Effectively With an Elderly Person

Communicating with an elderly person requires the same sensitivity and consideration that are needed in communication with people of any other age. But these are also a few special points to bear in mind:

• When the elderly person can look directly at you, he or she may respond more readily
• Many older people find that their hearing is better on on ear that in the other, so you may need to sit slightly to one side, while still maintaining face to face contact as much as possible.
• Some aged people, in hospitals and nursing homes especially, have "territories" representing their own private psychological space. The edges of a bed, for example, may be the boundaries of a bed ridden individual's territory. Be very careful not to intrude within the territory until the elderly person is ready to invite you in. If the individual is very deaf and you have to lean close in and shout, be aware that this may be an intrusion, and try to be particularly considerate in other ways.
• Regardless of how frail or disabled the elderly person may be, he or she should still be allowed to feel like an "authority" or a person the ego enhancing task of teaching you something drawn from his or her own wealth of experience.
• Shaking hands, or even holding hands during part of your conversation, can help establish contact so can sharing food, such as a candy bar. "The willingness to hold the proffered hand, or the eagerness to let go, are also cues for the interviewer."

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