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One of my favorite things to do is to talk about hearing loss! I guess that comes with the territory as an advocate. Considering hearing aids? Come sit by me. I am happy to share my experiences. Complaining about the volume of the music? I’ll join you in asking the manager to lower the volume. Need tips for communicating with your hearing family? I’ll direct you (and them) to my blog, book or documentary.
But the patient perspective is not just for people with hearing loss and their families. It is for everyone. If you are putting on a conference, or a school, workplace or community event, include the patient perspective there too! Whether its sharing our hearing loss journeys or the ways that your group can better support people with hearing loss, it will certainly be an ear-opening discussion.
Straight from the Horse’s Mouth
Each person experiences hearing loss uniquely, but we travel through a set of similar stages on the road to communicating well. People who work with us or who have relatives with hearing loss can certainly testify to the challenges. But there is no substitute for lived real-world experience.
That is why I encourage everyone in the industry—hearing care practitioners, device manufacturers, gerontologists, aging specialists, providers of government services, educators—to include the perspective of someone with direct lived experience in their work.
Patient Perspective Creates Ideas for Change
At the end of a recent presentation for an audience of hearing care providers, Gael Hannan and I asked: What is one thing from this presentation that you plan to add into your practices tomorrow? We were thrilled by the number and range of responses like those listed below.
- Putting up a sign in our clinic that the focus is better communication and not just better hearing.
- Making a point to discuss non-technical strategies more consistently.
- Engaging the patient to be part of the care and not just telling them what is recommended.
- Recommending peer support and reading material. I have not really done this before.
- Using captioning or other assistance at the front desk.
- Adding resources for patients in the lobby.
- Doing more to help change the mindsets surrounding hearing loss.
- Remembering that it is a collaborative process and that repetition of information can be helpful.
Better understanding breeds incremental changes that improve care. Taken together, these changes can move the industry forward, one patient perspective at a time.
To add the person with hearing loss’ perspective to your next event, please be in touch.
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