What happens in a conversation between a younger adult with normal hearing, and an older adult with hearing loss? And what if the conversation is taking place in a relatively easy situation—in a quiet place, and a one-to-one interaction?
A research study found that it depends—on whether the older adult is wearing hearing aids.
The first variable is taking turns in a conversation. In the study, they found that older adults without hearing aids were slower and more variable at timing their turns. This might affect how the conversation flows, and probably how long we would want to keep talking to each other.
Another difference when adults were not wearing hearing aids was that conversations were less interactive, and both people spoke louder.
A big takeaway for me is that the other person in the interaction is affected by the hearing loss. Communication will potentially flow less easily.
In my experience, when communication is difficult, there is less communication.
Related post: The difference between hearing and understanding
