This Valentine’s Day, help people connect

By Clint McLean

Where would we be without that person who makes our heart beat faster just by entering the room. The one who knows without us telling, who steadies us when we stumble, who thinks we’re amazing when we question it ourselves.

Partners in life’s adventures (and misadventures) are also together on the hearing journey when one — or both — of them has hearing loss. Good hearing care professionals know this too, and work to address the impact of their client's hearing difficulties on their significant other.

To help couples — or any key communication partners — more easily discuss how hearing loss affects them and set goals to help manage it, we developed Goal Sharing for Partners. The free tool is a step-by-step guide that hearing care professionals can use to open discussions between their clients and their key communication partners. It helps them to:

  • Acknowledge the hearing loss and articulate how it affects them
  • Express their feelings and viewpoints
  • Recognize that successful communication requires a joint effort
  • Establish realistic communication goals and identify the needed steps

Goal Sharing for Partners is just one of several tools we’ve developed to help clinicians involve family and friends in appointments. See all of the Communication Partners tools here.