The Ida Institute is pleased to announce a new partnership with Leightons Opticians & Hearing Care and The Hearing Care Partnership. The goal of the partnership is to enhance the quality of audiological rehabilitation and support the advancement of hearing care.
Leightons is a family run business established in 1928. They operate 34 vision and hearing care practices the UK. The Hearing Care Partnership is a subsidiary company of Leightons which delivers hearing care within independent optical practices. So far, they’re working with 100 clinics.
This new partnership is part of Ida’s larger effort to engage with organizations around the world to strengthen and promote a culture of person-centered care (PCC) in audiology by teaming up with professional organizations, patient associations and universities around the world. This is the first time we’ve partnered with a consumer outlet, extending the PCC agenda directly to a practice network.
“Leightons is an organization committed to the values of person-centered care. We are very happy to be partnering with them and look forward to working together to strengthen the provision of PCC throughout their network,” says Lise Lotte Bundesen, Managing Director of the Ida Institute.
A holistic approach
The partnership will include activities such as training staff on using Ida tools and methods, as well as collaboration on the development and testing of new tools and resources for person-centered care.
“Person-centered care starts from within,” says Ryan Leighton, CEO of Leightons Opticians & Hearing Care. “Teaming up with one of the world’s most esteemed knowledge hubs for person-centered hearing care will allow us to infuse our clinical activity and customer service with PCC.”
Leightons has already launched an ambitious internal training program aimed at strengthening the involvement of communication partners in the appointment. They’re using Ida ethnographic videos to help optometry staff become more aware of the importance of hearing and of the specific challenges related to hearing loss, building a bridge between the different areas of expertise within the company.
“Our goal is to enable people to live life to the fullest through understanding the link between hearing, vision and health,” says Ryan Leighton. “Collaboration with the Ida Institute allows us to enhance our holistic approach to care and perhaps even expand some of the Ida Institute methods and tools to our optometry services.”