Understanding and Communicating with the Elderly
... The first step to better understanding is to step in their shoes. ... The elderly has a fixed perception that only bad children stay out late. ... I believe that in a way, this might be a useful technique to resolve conflicts and miscommunications between the elderly and the young because only when you put yourself into the shoes of another, then will you really understand the role that that particular person plays, and the logic behind his or her actions. ... If both sides would understand each other, would not there be better understanding and communication between them? ... We tend to perceive the elderly as ˇ°old- fashioned fuddy- duddiesˇ±. ... However, bear in mind that the elderly has survived for several decades with their current mindset and that making them contradict this would be to break their own social norms. Communicating with older people often requires extra time and patience due to the physical, psychological, and social differences. Before beginning a conversation with an elderly, it is best to reduce background noises, which can be distracting to them. ... We should begin the conversation with casual topics like the weather or what the elderly person had for lunch.