The Family-Centered Approach
As printed in Hearing Health, volume 20:3,
Fall 2004
Fran and John came to our clinic for a complementary
test to find out who had the poorer hearing. The hearing
evaluation indicated that both spouses had significant
loss, primarily in the high frequencies, which meant
neither was hearing sounds like “s” and
“th” very well.
Because they mentioned that they had numerous misunderstandings
that they felt were related to hearing loss, we recommended
they both try hearing aids to help them better enjoy
their relationship and each other. They agreed and were
excited at the possibility of talking with and understanding
one another again.
The day of the hearing aid fitting was one of hope
and anxiety. We provided about an hour of counseling
before and after the fitting on how to use the aids
and we also tested their initial expectations.
When the couple arrived one week later for follow-up,
there were no smiles and both were anxious to talk about
their experience. John said, “These gadgets didn’t
help me understand my wife: she still doesn’t
speak clearly.” Fran responded that it might help
if he would move his jaw when he spoke. They agreed
only that they still had a great deal of difficulty
understanding even with the amplification provided by
their new aids.
We continued the counseling process and found that their
expectation level was based in part on advertising they
had seen that implied all would be well as soon as the
aids were placed in their ears. They believed adjusting
to hearing aids was a one-step process, not an unusual
expectation for first-time users.
By providing them with a reality check about their
expectations and several weeks of hearing aid adjustments
and ongoing counseling, we equipped Fran and John to
reconnect with one another through better hearing.
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