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How we interview and counsel patients in that we are able to be more personal with our approach and avoid asking “canned” questions. What does person-centered care mean to your clients? It means they feel more involved and they feel like we are really listening to them and their individual needs. Medical visits can become routine and disconnected. Our [...] inspired hearing care. Dr. Tim Winstead and his staff at all the Hearing Doctors of Georgia locations have joined the Inspired by Ida program . The Inspired by Ida label is a benchmark of quality that demonstrates a dedication to person-centered care. To become Inspired, clinicians complete two online courses in person-centered methods and sign a code [...] genuinely care about their situation and are developing a more personalized treatment plan. Any advice for audiologists who aren’t practicing person-centered care? As we sometimes tell our patients, until you try it, you cannot imagine the benefits. If your clinic was an animal, what would it be and why? A hearing dog of course. We are willing to do

foundational to the professions of speech-language pathology and audiology, a number of valid challenges exist – and these should be explored. By listening to and learning from our colleagues, we can come up with potential solutions and support each other in the process towards integrating PCC in all educational and clinical contexts.” Behavior change [...] explicitly address PCC and developed a dedicated learning guide. They have verbalized specific attitudes, knowledge, and skills to teach and mentor in the clinic – and modified their clinic intake forms to include open-ended questions in support of PCC. Additionally, the team has developed a rubric for rating student development and facilitating performance [...] who is the Department Head and a Professor of Audiology at Utah State University, explains why her team is committed to the project, “PCC does not just happen – like any other skill, it needs to be taught and developed. Most clinicians and instructors did not receive formal education in PCC. By joining forces across regions and faculties, we can provide

patients, and for sanitizing and sterilizing of stations and equipment. This means no patients wait in our waiting room. Audiologists and administrators are wearing PPE scrubs (washed daily), disposable gloves, and 4-layered masks with patients who have mild hearing loss, and face screens while seeing patients with moderate, severe or profound hearing loss [...] Australia Hear and Say is a not-for-profit early intervention and all of life implantable hearing technology program, based in Queensland Australia, with five centers and a tele-practice program. Our staff were placed on a work-from-home schedule and center-based services were minimized and replaced by tele-practice when appropriate. Most center-based appointments [...] before they arrive. They come in alone and I bring them straight into the clinic room. We have a physically-distanced conversation and then they put on personal protective equipment (PPE) from packs we have prepared — and I do the same. I then do otoscopy, wax removal, and any required testing. We remove the PPE and have a final physically-distanced c

this time of crisis and help them develop the self management skills they will need for success with their hearing health for years to come. Shari Eberts is a hearing health advocate, writer, and avid Bikram yogi. She is the founder of Living With Hearing Loss , a blog and online community for people living with hearing loss and tinnitus. She also serves [...] care for and maintain their devices by themselves from home. These new abilities will build their confidence and free up time in post-pandemic appointments for counseling and aural rehabilitation activities. Consider remote programming of devices as well. Many manufacturers offer this feature. 5. Think outside the hearing aid Hearing aids and cochlear [...] put particularly for people with hearing loss. Poor audio and questionable syncing of sound can make it harder to understand speech. If captions are not available on the calls, advise clients to use speech-to-text apps on their smartphones to help with understanding. My favorites are Live Transcribe (only on Android) and Otter.ai . Masks bring on new

goals of My Hearing Explained is to help friends and family of a client understand that person’s hearing loss. A team in Australia is looking at how My Hearing Explained can be used to establish communication strategies between the person with hearing loss and their communication partners with the project Assessing the use of the ‘My Hearing Explained’ [...] method to help guide and improve person-centered practices,” says Vitkovic. “Including all stakeholders in the development and testing ensures we measure what matters and in a way that is feasible and useful to all.” The other two projects focus on Ida’s newest tool, My Hearing Explained , which was launched in November 2019 and quickly became one of [...] consequences and implications of the hearing loss on daily life,” says principal researcher Gabrielle Saunders, who is working with co-investigator Kai Uus on the project Does the Ida tool ‘My Hearing Explained’ result in improved understanding of the consequences of hearing loss among older hearing impaired individuals seeking help for their hearing for the

that quality person-centered care is relevant across cultures and continents. We’re happy Tanya and her team at Sandton Hearing & Balance in beautiful South Africa have become Inspired and we look forward to a long relationship.” Visit our Inspired by Ida page to learn more about the program and how to join. [...] encouraging their clients to set their own goals for their appointments and really focusing on what is most important to them. "The words ‘This is your hearing journey’ form part of our everyday language,” Tanya said. “We strongly believe that the journey of hearing loss diagnosis, action, and acceptance is the patient’s journey to walk. As clinicians we simply [...] ethics underscoring their commitment to PCC. Sandton Hearing & Balance, in the leafy suburb of Bryanston, has been helping people with hearing loss — from newborns to seniors — since 2008. When COVID-19 forced the team of six audiologists and three administrators to temporarily close the clinic this year, they used the downtime to improve their person-centered

Tinnitus is known to affect a number of children, both with hearing loss and with normal hearing. However, there is a lack of research and consistency in reports of how children experience tinnitus and the day-to-day problems they face. A new project by Harriet Smith, funded by the British Tinnitus Association, aims to close that gap in understanding [...] both with and without hearing loss, as well as speaking to parents and clinicians. She analyzed these interviews to identify all ways in which children are affected by tinnitus and itemized these problems as candidates to be assessed by the new questionnaire. She further consulted with a panel of experts to design the draft questionnaire and refine the [...] everyday activities, relationships, and hearing.” The development of the questionnaire is the aim of Smith’s PhD at the University of Nottingham. She is part of the Hearing Sciences team at the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre. “The project was developed in response to the recent practice guidance on the assessment and treatment of tinnitus in children

guidelines – and at first, that was extremely disruptive to my usual way of practicing. Under normal circumstances, I would offer my clients a cup of coffee or tea to make them feel at home. I would take the needed time to create an atmosphere of intimacy and confidentiality. But with this sterile set-up, and me behind my face mask and gloves, I almost [...] through regular newsletters. “There seemed to be such an overwhelming feeling of isolation and loneliness out there, so this was my attempt to reach out and provide some comfort. And the feedback I received was just amazing; people sharing their personal stories and experiences – I felt like we genuinely provided each other with mutual consolation in these [...] extremely lonely. Every event – from local workshops and conferences to AAA – was canceled, so as a professional, I have felt isolated and under-stimulated. What kept me sane, in addition to my correspondence with clients, was my local network of independent audiologists. We leaned on each other for motivation and discussion, which has been immensely valuable

wonderful inventions of texting and FaceTime helped both of us survive. He was proud of my work in hearing loss and I’m proud that I’ve helped raise a man who is one of the best communicators I know. In fact, if we are talking and I turn away briefly, he will wait until I turn back to him (unlike the Hearing Husband). Hearing loss causes communication challenges [...] would he blow up? These and other practical concerns made me reach out for the first time to other people with hearing loss. Battling the nerves At a hearing loss conference, I met a woman with a severe hearing loss similar to mine. As she held her six-month-old baby in her arms, she told me that I could do this. Having hearing loss didn’t have to mean [...] bathroom, Joel? This one, Mommy! During this exchange I’m running up and downstairs, cursing myself as a bad mommy who should never have been allowed to bear children. Joel has always understood and respected my hearing loss, even though there was frustration and frequent eye-rolls and laughs at my mis-hears. (“Mom, I’m going over Adam’s house.” “No thanks

Slowly. And relax. Living with hearing loss is a never-ending learning journey. Karin Weiser is British by birth, global by choice. Karin has a professional background in communications and learning and development. She has lived and worked in nine countries across four continents and speaks four languages. Karin lives with hearing loss and got her [...] Getting your first hearing aid is quite a big deal. I was 30 and embarrassed about my hearing loss. The first pair I received ended up in a drawer and I returned them to the hospital during a declutter two years later. I was not ready to hear some of the new (painful) sounds in my everyday life. And I was not ready to wear hearing aids. I mean, how sexy [...] for my hearing loss. Looking back, I know I also lacked emotional support. Somebody who understood and could resonate with my struggles, feelings and journey. I had been missing this support since I had first discovered my hearing loss at the age of 15. The initial diagnosis with no explanation concluded: “There’s nothing we can do. Go away and get on