Why Needs-Assessment? To Change Minds!
The audiogram is critical to being able to diagnose hearing loss and to properly fit hearing instruments. But if you agree with me that the most important goal of the hearing evaluation is building a solid case that obtaining hearing instruments is among the best things your patient can do to help themselves and their…
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Performance – Perception Test Using QuickSIN
Think about this question for a moment… Would it be useful for you to know if your newly fit hearing aid patient has a realistic or unrealistic view of how well they can hear? You know who I’m talking about! It is the patient with pretty good hearing who complains of all kinds of difficulty,…
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We Are Teachers! Educate!
Much of what we do with our customer is education. Most of our patients have little or no knowledge of hearing, hearing loss or hearing aids – it is a black box. Hearing aids are particularly mysterious. Our patients don’t know what they can and cannot do, may never have experienced them, and may not…
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It’s Not Just Chit-Chat
I typically dislike euphemisms. For an excellent primer on how euphemisms can subtly change the meaning and impact of language, look at the late, great George Carlin’s brilliant comedic essay on how “shell shock” eventually became “PTSD”. His point is that euphemistic language can sometimes soften and “tame” difficult concepts. Perhaps we would do well…
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… Where Often is Heard a Discouraging Word: MDs and Treatment for Hearing Loss
In a recent talk to a group of hearing care providers, I took an informal poll, asking what were some of the most discouraging things their patients had reported being told by their physician regarding their hearing. I knew what the results would be, having heard very disappointing things from scores of patients myself, over…
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Do I Infantilize My Patients?
infantilize /inˈfantilīz/ – verb – to treat (someone) as a child or in a way that denies their maturity in age or experience. Infantalize is not a pleasant word. It conjures condescension and patronization, neither of which does any clinical caregiver wish to be guilty. There can be a fine line between condescension and explaining…
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