Audiologists see a variety of hearing losses, mild sloping to severe, flat, and precipitous. We do not question to recommend amplification for a patient with a moderate hearing loss or a high-frequency, mild-to-severe hearing loss. But what about a mild, high-frequency hearing loss? What determines whether a patient chooses a hearing aid?
Topic(s): hearing aid, Hearing Loss, audiology, Patient care
In the classic movie, “The Wizard of Oz,” Dorothy realizes in order to reach the Emerald City, she must first travel through the dark and unfamiliar Enchanted Forest. Worried that they will be attacked, the Tinman predicts the forest will be filled mostly with “lions and tigers and bears.”
Topic(s): hearing aid, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), personal sound amplification products (PSAPs), over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids, OTC Hearing Aid Act, Technology, Audiogram
Hearing aid technology has improved tremendously in recent years. Available devices are sleek, fast, adjustable, “smart,” and provide excellent benefits to individuals with hearing loss.
Topic(s): Patient-Centered Care, hearing aid, Fitting, Health Care
The case report described here draws attention to a powerful variable, namely offhanded provider remarks, which can negatively influence rehabilitation outcomes, specifically for prelingually deaf adults. This group is known to be highly variable in their audiologic/hearing characteristics (Neuman et al, 2017) such that blanket statements are not likely to apply to a given individual.
Topic(s): Bilateral Hearing Loss, hearing aid, Cochlear Implants (CI), bimodal, audiological rehabilitation services, decision-making, Hearing Aids, speech-language pathology