Treating the Person
September 2003
My
wife and I are very active in our local ALDA (Association of Late
Deafened Adults - http://www.alda.org) group. We got involved
because we were looking for help with her hearing loss and related
issues, and ALDA has made a huge difference in our lives. That's the
reason I get so depressed when new people show up at one of our
meetings!
Don't
get me wrong - it's wonderful that they found us, and I have no doubt
that hooking up with an ALDA group will make a huge difference in how
they deal with their hearing loss issues. That's the wonderful part. The
depressing part is that they've often had significant hearing loss and
worn hearing aids for 20 years or more, and they just now learned about
ALDA. Not only did they not know about the various support groups that
could help them, they often didn't know about free amplified telephones
or TTYs, assistive listening devices, captioned movies, or even that
their television set has captions! Many claim to have never met another
person with hearing loss!
The
only thing they know about is hearing aids. They've been wearing them
for 20 years or more, and they've purchased several pairs in that time.
Think about how much better their lives would be today if they had taken
advantage of some available resources 20 years ago . . . . . or ten . .
. . . or even five.
I
know that many of you try to educate your patients about various
resources, and sometimes they don't want to hear about it. And I know
that sometimes you're just too busy to spend the time to educate them.
But I also know the isolation that so often results when your patients
are uninformed - whatever the reason.
If
you could provide each of your patients with information that will help
them lead more fulfilling and productive lives, and if you could do it
at virtually no cost in money or time, wouldn't you commit to doing
that?
Well,
the fact is that you can!
Hearing
Loss Network provides a "Coping with Hearing Loss Information
Sheet" that directs your patients to the resources they need.
You'll find it in our online library (http://www.hearinglossnetwork.org/serv/out/docs/docs.htm).
Please download, copy and distribute it.
While
you're there, why not grab a copy of the "Communications Tips
Sheet" as well? Note that this is a two-sided sheet with tips
for a person with hearing loss on one side and tips for a hearing person
on the other. Please copy and distribute that, as well.
These
flyers won't take the place of the time you devote to patient education
in your office; words on a page don't invoke the trust your patients
have in your experience and judgment. But just maybe, after they get
home and kick back and think about their day, they'll remember those
papers you gave them, and they'll make a call or visit a website. And
then they'll thank you for treating the person rather than the hearing
loss.