Ida staff presented a workshop on supporting patient involvement to a group of 15 audiology graduate students at Lund University in Lund, Sweden, this week. Senior Audiologist Melanie Gregrory, audiologist Anne Mette Jeppesen, and chief anthropologist Hans Henrik Philipsen presented different tools, organized activities, and showed different ethnographic films and explained the relevance of ethnography in audiology to the group. Participants were taught the Motivational, Communication Partner, and Living Well tools.
The daylong session began with a role playing exercise that allowed participants to get to know each other, as well as introducing the communication skills necessary for patient centered care. This point was further illustrated by the short ethnographic film “The Color of My Hair.” The film provided a jumping off point for discussing motivational engagement, and an introduction to the Line, the Box, and the Circle.
After lunch, the session started up again with the ethnographic video “Gill and John.” The film, which focuses on how John supports his wife, Gill, who has hearing loss, was used to introduced the Communication Rings and the GPS. The room was then divided into Gills and Johns, and participants filled out the GPS from those perspectives.
The final tool taught was the Living Well tool. The film “Joe, John, and Dana,” which focuses on how John copes with his hearing loss and cochlear implant personally and professionally, opened this section of the workshop. Participants were called on to consider the patient’s daily life and needs, what situations are relevant, and what the concept of living well means in private as well professional life.
By using these three tools, the audiologists will be able to better engage their patients in the clinic and understand their communication needs, and the needs of those closest to them.