AboutIda

OurOrganization

The Ida Institute creates and shares innovative, actionable knowledge through professional collaboration to enable hearing care professionals to help hearing impaired persons address the psychological and social challenges of hearing loss.

We are an independent, non-profit organization located in Denmark and funded by a grant from the Oticon Foundation.

OurMission

To foster a better understanding of the human dynamics associated with hearing loss.

OurGoal

By making patient-centered care the core of hearing care practice, we aim to positively impact hearing impaired persons and hearing care professionals around the world.

OurMotivation

Outcome data in audiology suggests that advances in technology and hearing aids have not led to significant improvements in patient outcomes.

Research has shown that when the human dynamics associated with hearing loss are not addressed, the results are often poor patient acceptance of hearing devices, low levels of patient satisfaction, and general frustration for the patient and clinician.

Despite research purporting the benefits of patient-centered care, many hearing care professionals report they feel unprepared to adopt counseling and other methods in their daily practice. 

OurApproach

We are organized around the concept of collaborative learning and embrace a multidisciplinary approach to exploring the human dynamics associated with hearing loss.

Borrowing from anthropological research methods, we use curiosity and observation to better understand the often unspoken and tacit knowledge that exists within the hearing care community.

We use ethnographic videos depicting real-life situations at the clinic and in the homes of persons with hearing loss to provide a unique perspective of the challenges facing audiologists and the complex journey of living with hearing loss.

OurActivities

We create practical, easy-to-use tools to enable hearing care professionals to open a dialogue and develop a partnership with their patient.

Our tools and methods help fill the missing link between understanding the attitudes, feelings, and motivations of a patient and the prescriptive method often employed by hearing care professionals.

We collaborate with hearing care professionals and academics from around the world to identify needs in the field of audiology and develop tools and strategies to meet those needs.

Our seminars invite members from the hearing care community to come together to advance thinking about hearing loss and to develop insights, strategies, and practical tools that can be implemented in clinical and educational settings.

Through our seminars, workshops, E-Learning Lab and interactive website, we facilitate knowledge exchanges and host ‘conversations that matter’ within the hearing care community.

We provide educational materials and programs to students and teachers within the hearing care community to ensure that the hearing care professionals of tomorrow gain an understanding of the human dynamics associated with hearing loss.  

We attend conferences and hold workshops to impart knowledge related to our tools and methods with the broader hearing care community.