With many consults moving online, a group of geriatricians has created a checklist for doctors to help improve the experience for older patients.

The advice includes asking them to wear a headset, speaking slowly and assuming older patients have some hearing loss even if they aren’t aware of it, the US authors write in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The checklist was devised after Dr Esther Oh, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Memory and Alzheimer’s Treatment Center in Baltimore, witnessed firsthand the difficulties her older patients faced.

Alongside hearing loss, barriers to efficient telehealth use include internet speed, inadequate minutes on patients’ phones and a noisy environment, the authors say.