NAERUM, DENMARK — The Ida Institute and Leightons Opticians & Hearing Care and The Hearing Care Partnership have announced a new partnership. The goal of the partnership is to enhance the quality of audiological rehabilitation and support the advancement of hearing care.
The 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 marks the first time the Ida Institute has partnered with a consumer outlet, extending the PCC agenda directly to a practice network of 34 Leightons clinics and over 100 Hearing Care Partnership practices around the UK.
“Leightons is an organization committed to the values of person-centered care. We are extremely happy to be partnering with them and look forward to working together to strengthen the provision of PCC throughout their network”
–Lise Lotte Bundesen, Managing Director of the Ida Institute.
A Holistic Approach
The partnership will include activities such as training staff in 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. 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.”
–Ryan Leighton, CEO of Leightons Opticians & Hearing Care
Leightons has already launched an ambitious internal training program aimed at strengthening the involvement of communication partners in the appointment. They are 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.”
About the Ida Institute
The Ida Institute is a non-profit organization founded in 2007 with a grant from the Oticon Foundation. The mission of the Ida Institute is to develop and integrate person-centered practice in hearing care. Together with hearing care professionals around the world, the institute develops knowledge and tools to strengthen the counseling process, enabling people to express their individual needs and preferences and take ownership of their hearing care. The Ida Institute is based in Denmark and has a community of 14,000 hearing health care professionals worldwide.
About Leighton Opticians & Hearing Care and The Hearing Care Partnership
Leightons Opticians & Hearing Care is a family run business established in 1928. Led by CEO Ryan Leighton, the grandson of the Founder, the company operates 34 practices in South East UK and continues to differentiate and elevate the customer experience with a focus on clinical care, fashion and technology. Leightons sister company, The Hearing Care Partnership, serve over 100 independent opticians with a dedicated audiology service. Partners benefit from highly trained audiologists, an optician-only model, integrated marketing plus a share of revenue.
