Effective communication with elderly individuals requires respect, sensitivity, and patience. It involves actively listening, being mindful of their emotional and physical needs, and allowing them the time to express themselves. Building meaningful relationships with older adults can be challenging but ultimately rewarding.

1. Communication With Old
People: 3 Important Rules To
Remember
Michael Lee
http://www.20daypersuasion.com/secrets.htm

2. Communication with old people involves
more than just words and our sense of
hearing. We also use our sense of sight,
smell, touch, and most of all, our
cognition.

3. Communicating with the elderly can
prove to be challenging, especially when
taking into consideration their decline in
mental and physical abilities.

4. This is why it’s important to learn how to
effectively handle communication with
old people - especially if you have a loved
one, relative or friend who you want to
maintain and nurture a relationship with.
Here are 3 important rules to remember:

5. Step 1: Be Respectful.

6. Respect the elderly person’s values,
backgrounds and life experiences. Don’t
try to impose your own views, or insist on
correcting their opinions even when you
disagree with them.

7. You should also respect their privacy
when they prefer to be left on their own.
When old people are talking, listen
actively. Let them finish and don’t try to
interrupt or cut them off.

8. Letting them express their thoughts and
emotions is important when
communicating with the elderly. Besides,
you can always benefit from the life
lessons they may impart.

9. Step 2: Be Sensitive.

10. Sometimes, the physical or mental state
of old people can stand in the way of
expressing their needs. More than just
their physical needs (such as food,
clothing, and so on), it is also important
to be mindful of their emotional needs.

11. Listen to the said and unsaid. Do they
seem lonely? Do you feel like they need
company? When in their company, try to
tell if they’d rather chat or be quiet.

12. When you feel like they’d want to be
quiet, do not try starting a conversation
or keep asking them questions. Just
being there, spending time with them, is
as important as talking to them or
cheering them up.

13. Step 3: Be Patient.

14. As communication with old people can
be difficult, it is important to be always
patient. When talking or explaining to
them, remain patient when they ask you
to repeat yourself.

15. When it takes them a while to finish what
they are doing or saying, quietly wait for
them. Try using gestures along with
words, or write down what you want to
say when necessary. Use simple words
and sentences.

16. Though it may be challenging, effective
communication with old people can be
very rewarding. Being able to speak to
and understand your loved ones, even in
their twilight years, is always worth the
effort.

17. Presentation By:
Michael Lee
Persuasion Expert and Author
http://www.20daypersuasion.com/secrets.htm