Communicating with elders: effects of speaker-listener distance

As the distance between two communicators increases, weaker sounds of speech become inaudible, conversation becomes more difficult and there is a greater need to resolve communication difficulties. This study investigated the effects of distance on face-to-face social conversation by 27 older adults with hearing impairment, under three listening conditions (without amplification, with personal hearing aids, with a small portable amplifier). Each participant was rated on a 1-5 scale of conversational fluency at distances between 0.5 and 3.0 metres. Results indicate that the subjects conversed more fluently with amplification and at short communication distances. Use of a portable amplifier resulted in high conversational fluency regardless of distance.