Helen Keller once said: “When you lose your sight, you lose contact with things. When you lose your hearing, you lose contact with people.” It is important to understand the ways hearing loss can affect patients’ lifestyles and find a hearing healthcare professional (HHP) dedicated to improving the quality of life by improving patient hearing.
When seeking a professional to help with hearing health care, it is important to find someone who understands that patient service is more than finding solutions to hearing problems. It’s meeting individual needs. Hearing aids allow patients to interact effectively with those around them and help patients participate in activities and outings they might have avoided because of hearing difficulties. Discussing what these activities and outings are for each patient help tailor hearing aids to each patient. This is the crux of a “whole person approach” to better hearing; recognizing that hearing aids are not the best option for everyone and that the same hearing aid will not help everyone.
Physicians and audiologists respect patient needs and welcome patients to come to them with questions, problems, and concerns, as often as necessary. Patient satisfaction should be valued above all else.
Feeling pressured to buy is never a welcome feeling. Patients should never feel pressured buying a hearing aid from a qualified HHP. If so, you might want to find someone else. At a hearing aid evaluation appointment, options are discussed, but there should never be an obligation to buy. Every dispensing HHP is required to give a trial period after purchase.
During the trial period, the patient may return the hearing aid(s) and receive a refund if he/she is not completely satisfied with them. Any patient centered HHP would much rather see patients return their hearing aids than keep them if they are not satisfied.
Follow-up calls and appointments are very important. Keeping connected to patient is important in determining if something can be done to improve their hearing or satisfaction with hearing aids. Patients should be encouraged to return about every six months so their hearing aids can be cleaned thoroughly and touch base to see if they are experiencing any difficulties.
Part of a “whole-person” approach involves helping the patients to take control of their hearing loss and/or hearing aids. This includes knowing how to handle minor problems they might encounter with different types of hearing aids, as well as using assistive listening devices or other strategies based on the situation to make adapt to different environments. Cleaning requires special tools, which vary depending on the type of hearing aid. The cleaning tool the patient needs is given to him when he/she receives the hearing aid.
The take-away is to find a HHP that makes you feel comfortable, does not push you to buy something you are uncomfortable with, and is dedicated to helping you do the best you can.
To learn more about our Midwest Hearing Center audiologists and the hearing health care services they provide, please call 309-691-6616 in Peoria, or 309-284-0164 in Morton.
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