Follow-up to Orientation

The same elderly man from last week came in for a follow-up (this would be the third week in a row). He seemed to be in a better mind-frame in this session and participated without reluctance. I believe that his confidence is getting better which will help him accept his hearing loss. We worked on inserting the hearing aids again and also reprogrammed them because the patient said they were too loud.

Reprogramming included decreasing the gain in the lows and mids for loud sounds. After the change, the patient seemed to be happier. He also seems to need some time to adjust to the new hearing aids. His complaints included rustling of his clothes, an obnoxious laugher, and crowds of people talking too loud. However, these sounds have always been there but were not noticeable to him or they are annoying sounds no matter what level. Aural rehabilitation would be excellent for this patient but he does not seem interested in a weekly plan (even though he has been coming in weekly).

Since this patient has been having some problems, I went to the Widex (his hearing aids are Widex) and found their suggestions for first-time users. So here are some tips...
http://www.widex.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/Widex-COM-Site/en_GB/-/EUR/SVCPresentationPipeline-Start?Page=issite%3a%2f%2fWidex-COM-Site%2fWidexEnglishDic%2fDic%2f0_0_Index%2f0_0_1_IndexPages%2fAdviseForFirstTimeHearingAidUsers%2epage
The two tips that seemed most important for this patient were adjusting to new sounds and practice makes perfect.

In addition, I also read an article on hearing aid services and satisfaction because I was unsure if the problem was with me or him...which, most likely, it is both. I can not be with him everyday to make sure he is practicing so I'm not doing enough and he started out unmotivated. In this article, hearing aid users were asked to evaluate the service that they received when purchasing a hearing aid. I have seen this article before in class and possibly on someone else's blog. However, I never really noticed that the audiologists and hearing aid dealers were not giving the patient the opportunity for group aural rehabilitation. Also, communication strategies were also not top priority for the professionals to discuss with their patients. I believe that my patient needs both of these pieces of information. In fact, it was more important for me to discuss expectations, communication strategies, and aural rehab than how many programs the hearing aid had or how to change the wax guard. Here's the article:

http://www.hearingresearch.org/Dr.Ross/HAsatisfaction_consumers.htm

Stika, C.J. & Ross, M. (nd) Hearing Aid Services and Satisfaction: The Consumer Viewpoint.