Two years ago, we were at the American Association of Audiology conference in Columbus, US. If you were there, perhaps you stopped by our booth for a chat.
This year, it's all online, but we're no less excited. At AAA 2021 Virtual on April 14-16 we're launching a pioneering Future Hearing Journeys report on how hearing care could change over the next decade and the implications for people with hearing loss, hearing care professionals, educators, students, and the hearing care industry.
We're also launching a tool to help organizations explore the future of hearing care in their own contexts and a University Course module on clinician wellbeing.
Visitors to the Ida Institute’s exhibit at AAA Virtual can chat directly with members of the Ida team about these new, free resources, and access links to download them.
Conference attendees will also gain access to an Ida Institute Web Seminar – available from April 17 – to learn about the Future Hearing Journeys project and tool from the people who developed them.
Those who aren’t attending the conference will be able to access the resources on the Ida website from April 14.
“We’re excited to present new, innovative resources with tangible, real-world benefits at the first virtual AAA conference,” said Lise Lotte Bundesen, Managing Director of the Ida Institute.
“We know from our Future Hearing Journeys project that person-centered care will be one of the most important trends in the next decade. These new resources will enable current and future clinicians to further develop their PCC knowledge and skills.”
‘We can’t plan the future, but we can prepare for it’
Over the past year, the Ida Institute conducted 60 interviews, six focus groups, two workshops, one global survey with almost 1,500 responses, and months of research and analysis in a bid to understand the future landscape of hearing care.
The Future Hearing Journeys report shares the insights gathered from people with hearing loss, hearing care professionals, academics, and the industry.
Among the key findings, professional guidance during in-person appointments was identified as the most important aspect of care for people with hearing loss. Around 87% of people with hearing loss reported that they prefer purchasing hearing devices from an audiologist to online or in-store purchases. Academics pointed to person-centered care as the second most important opportunity for hearing care professionals in the coming years, trumped only by telehealth.
The report shows that in the future, telehealth will allow hearing care professionals to extend care to their clients’ homes. In many cases, care will be delivered as a hybrid of face-to-face and remote. Increasing commercialization and competition will likely lead to new technologies and access to cheaper technology.
At the same time, wellness trends will lead consumers to think more holistically, seeing hearing as part of their overall health and focusing more on experiences (e.g., the care they receive) than possessions (e.g., hearing care devices).
“While we can’t plan the future, we can prepare for it,” says Bundesen. “Armed with these new insights, we will all be better able to navigate an evolving landscape of new technologies, consumer demands, and business models.”
To help other organizations explore the future of audiology in their local contexts, the Ida Institute has also created a new tool, Explore Future Hearing care, which includes a series of free, downloadable resources.
Groups can choose to run five half-hour ‘Lunch and Chat’ sessions or one three-hour strategic discussion. The resources include ready-made PowerPoints and facilitator guides.
Teaching clinician self-care
The new Ida University Course module, Clinician wellbeing: Self-care in the hearing clinic, was developed by Dr. Dunay Schmulian, Director of Audiology at Metro South Health in Brisbane, Australia and addresses burnout among hearing care clinicians, a topic that has received limited attention.
Students will learn about principles and strategies of self-care, how to debrief challenging clinical encounters, and how clinician wellbeing relates to person-centered care.
The lecture series feeds into the full Ida Institute University Course, which aims to support lecturers and supervisors as they prepare students to work with individuals and families with hearing loss. Throughout the course, role-playing and classroom discussions are used to provide context for the material.
If you’re attending AAA 2021 Virtual, don’t forget to stop by our booth to say hello – and if not, check out our social media on April 14 for links to our new resources.