Give the Gift of Hearing This Mother's Day

Whether you’re planning a big event or a quiet gathering, it’s always nice to celebrate your loved ones on Mother’s Day.

There’s no reason to let hearing loss (yours or anyone else’s) interfere with your plans. With some forethought, you can ensure everyone can participate in conversations, sing along to music and enjoy life’s sounds to the fullest.

Social Engagement and Wellbeing

Mother’s Day is, above all, a day to bring the family together. Staying connected with family and friends is essential to everyone’s well-being, and hearing plays a crucial role in this.^₁
A growing body of evidence suggests that maintaining good hearing health, including hearing aids and other therapeutic interventions, can help guard against cognitive decline, feelings of isolation and other potential problems. 

Mother's Day Activity Suggestions

While the most common Mother’s Day activity is a family gathering, there are plenty of other ways to celebrate the day that are suitable for those with hearing loss. These include going on a family picnic, gardening (or visiting a botanical garden), visiting a café, playing games or working on puzzles, going to the cinema or a museum, treating yourself to a spa day, or even a good, old-fashioned home-cooked meal.²

Family Gathering Tips

If you or a loved one has hearing loss, it’s not something you have to manage alone. Families can support each other by getting educated and following some simple best practices.³
These include ensuring you have mum’s attention before speaking, making sure she can see your lips, not talking over each other, speaking clearly and steadily, being prepared to repeat yourself and keeping your sense of humour.

Hear It All When You're Out and About

If you’ve chosen to go out for Mother’s Day, there are some steps you can take to make sure you and your loved ones can hear each other clearly.⁴
Make sure any hearing aids are fully charged and that you have spare batteries, book seats or a table in a quiet spot within a venue, ensure there’s good lighting (to help with lip reading), use a microphone accessory for additional amplification if required (such as the Roger Select iN) and, above all else, be confident that it’ll be a great outing.
We all want Mother’s Day to be something special. So if you or your loved ones are having trouble keeping up with conversations, why not book a visit to your local Connect Hearing clinic. It could turn out to be the best Mother’s Day gift of all!

References:

1. MomBlogSociety [1 June 2023], For Mothers Everywhere, Better Hearing Means Better Health, MomBlogSociety, accessed 18 April 2024.
2. MDHearing [10 May 2018], 8 Mother’s Day Activities for Mothers with Hearing Loss, MDHearing, accessed 18 April 2024.
3. Psychology Today [5 April 2017], Have Better Conversations With Someone With Hearing Loss, Sussex Publishers LLC, accessed 18 April 2024.
4. Hearing Link Services [February 2023]. Hearing Loss and Eating Out, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, accessed 18 April 2024.