Carefour – 5 Ways We Listen5 Ways We Listen
If you deliver live-in care or home care like we do or simply support a loved one, the skill of being able to listen well to others quickly becomes an essential one.
At Live In Care we pride ourselves on making sure we always listen carefully to our clients, their families, our team of amazing carers and those we interact with.
To keep us on track we use the below tips to help us be the best listeners.
Making the most of eye contact
When face to face in a client’s home, or on a virtual call we always strive to make eye contact. We love the connection that gets us and the ability for us to read between the lines. The eyes give away a lot and we like to know that the client knows we are there, we are connecting, and we are listening.
Focused Listening
It’s super easy to get distracted these days. Phone pings, music playing, pets interacting, food cooking, the list goes on.
We focus as best we can and try to remove distractions so we can truly focus on what the client is saying to us. Especially if they have difficulties with speech this becomes even more important. We take notes when it’s really important and always make sure we repeat things back just to be certain we captured the essence of the conversation.
Learning to be quiet
It’s very easy when someone else is talking to get distracted or even start thinking about what you’re going to say next (don’t worry, it’s natural – we all do this!) but it’s a habit we need to get out of if we are to listen effectively.At Live In Care we work hard to make sure that when someone’s talking to us, we stay quiet and focus on the conversation to help us make sure we really are understanding what has been said to usWhen you work in care, conversations with clients can be critical and making sure someone has the chance to talk, without interruption is really important. We also know that for those clients who struggle with speech it means a lot to them that we let them go at their own pace without chipping in and trying to finish sentences for them.
Have an Open Mind
When you work in care, it’s all about the person. We know to leave our own feeling, beliefs, and judgments at home. This takes skill and practice, so we follow the 3 J’s to keep us on the right lines.
Do not Judge: We aim to listen without feeling critical of the other person. Judging the situation before you hear it all out can cause you to respond inappropriately.
Do not Justify: We avoid the need to justify our own thoughts or beliefs on a matter before listening to a person entirely. If you don’t allow a person
to finish what they’re trying to say, you’ll never really get to know how they feel or think about the situation.
Do not Jump in: We are patient. We do not try to figure out what we think the client is trying to say. The best way to learn exactly what they’re saying is by remaining quiet and listening closely.
Pay Attention to More than Just Words
We’ve learnt that you cannot rely just on words when you are listening. There are other factors that can help you get the full picture.
We try to keep an eye out for body language, eye movements, facial expressions, and the pace and tone of voice too. All these visual cues help us get the right message, and sometimes encourage us to delve a little deeper to check on our clients and what they’re really telling us.
How does this help when Live In Care look after your family?
Live In Care creates care plans around each of our client’s specific needs and requirements and no matter how small the details, we are listening so we can take them into account, we take them into account.
It’s important for you to know that we listen, and we truly hear what you’re saying. We always want to hear from our clients, their families, our teams, and governing bodies like the CQC.
Live In Care provides Homecare and 24-hour Live-in Care across the Midlands and Oxfordshire and so please get in touch if you or a loved one requires care at home.
