Patients and their Families are the Real Experts

Hearing loss impacts everyone involved in the life of someone with hearing challenges, especially family and loved ones. In healthcare overall, and in hearing healthcare in particular, we are learning that treatment outcomes are better when families are involved, increasing overall patient satisfaction.

We support a holistic approach to healthcare - one that considers the person receiving services and his/her family to be active partners in the planning, executing, and monitoring of treatment.  The Institute of Medicine offers the following description:

Family-centered care provides care to patients and family members that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient and family preferences, needs, and values, and ensures that patient and family values guide all clinical decisions.

Sure, we perform our tests and make our measurements to quantify hearing ability and determine what areas of the auditory system are involved. But these measures offer a starting point, and do not dictate how we proceed.  

We have learned that each person is unique, and not every hearing loss can be treated the same way. I am a guide, so that we may explore options based on lifestyle, perceptions and preferences of the individual.

We encourage our patients to invite a family member along to the audiology appointment. The family member is great for support, encouragement, and "reality check".  Sometimes the patient has one perception of his communication abilities, but his significant other may see things a bit differently. Interestingly, both views may be aspects of the same story!

We welcome active participation by family members.  Familiar voices help to assess how a hearing aid is perceived, and helps us tweak the settings to best serve the patient.  

We consider the individual patient and his family to be the experts. They (not we) live with that hearing loss every day. Nobody knows you as well as your family! Everyone in the family has a role in setting goals. We get the best picture when we see it from all sides.  The patient may say: "I want to hear TV more comfortably." A son or daughter may have another concern: "I need to know he will hear the phone when I call so I don't worry." Likewise, both the patient and the family members contribute to assessing success and/or need for adjustment.

Finally, another pair of hands and set of eyes can make things easier so any problems can be addressed quickly by the "team" and the family can get on with good, stress-free communication. When you hear better, you (all of you) live better.