Skodsborg, DK June 4 Ida Institute held the first of three Motivational Engagement seminars planned for 2009 in Skodsborg, Denmark on May 18-20.
The May seminar engaged more than 20 hearing care professionals from around the world in a collaborative process to explore how audiologists and other healthcare professionals can foster and maintain patient motivation to ensure the best possible outcomes.
"Our goal is deepen our participants' understanding and appreciation of the motivational issues and challenges hearing care professionals and patients face," explains Ida Institute Director Lise Lotte Bundesen. "Ida Institute seminars are not a place where professionals come to listen to a number of lectures, take notes and then return home. We recognize that to affect change participants must actively engage in the process of inquiry, working as a group to develop insights, strategies and practical tools that truly benefit the profession and in turn people with hearing loss."
Unconventional Approach Fosters Insight, Innovation
Workshops, group discussion, role playing and individual reflection are key elements of the Institute's second seminar series. Ida Institute is a pioneer in using ethnographic documentaries and theatrical role playing to stimulate awareness and appreciation of the challenges faced by people with hearing loss. The videos of patient/audiologist interactions used in the seminar series are filmed in several countries by Institute anthropologists and mirror aspects of the practice of audiology that participants can relate to their own experiences. In networking and knowledge-sharing sessions, participants explore and reflect on differences and similarities in hearing care practice around the world, sharing local experiences to develop a global perspective.
As part of their seminar experience, participants any of whom have well established professional networks gree to share seminar insights and learnings with other hearing care professionals in their communities. Ida Institute staff, faculty and participants continue to collaborate post-seminar through a closed online forum created by the Institute.
May participant Jodi Ostroff, PhD, Audiology Manager, Hearing Solutions, Canada said:
"I am pleased to say that two days after the seminar, my colleagues and I have been practicing role play using the tools I received from Ida Institute. The feedback was very positive and the clinicians felt the tools were practical and could be useful in their everyday clinical work. I will be providing ongoing training and coaching for our clinicians in the area of motivational interviewing over the next few months."
Multi-disciplinary Faculty
The Motivational Engagement seminar concept was developed by Ida Institute staff who combine expertise in audiology, education, communications, business and anthropology and the Institute's distinguished advisory board and faculty members in audiology and allied health professions. Faculty members for the second seminar series include David Fabry, PhD, Chief Audiologist, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine;John Greer Clark, PhD, Assistant Professor of Audiology, University of Cincinnati and President of Clark Audiology, LLC;and Lorraine Gailey, PhD, Chief Executive of Hearing Concern LINK, a UK-based national resource for adults with all degrees of acquired hearing loss.
The May seminar also featured guest speaker Hanne Tønnesen, Head of Research for Clinical Health Promotion, Bispebjerg Hospital, Denmark.
Dr. Tønnesen's lecture honed in on her work as a surgeon in gastroenterology and the need to motivate her patients to make lifestyle changes pre-surgery. She introduced simple tools to support the changing process which are available for download on www.idainstitute.dk.
Seminar Participation
The next two seminars in the Motivational Engagement series for hearing care professionals are scheduled for August and September. Applicants for upcoming Ida Institute seminars can apply online at www.idainstitute.dk.
About the Ida Institute
Established in 2007 with a grant from the Oticon Foundation, the Ida Institute is as a non-profit independent educational institute located in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Institute seeks to foster a better understanding of the human dynamics of hearing loss. By serving as a catalyst for knowledge sharing and the development of innovative and practical tools, the Institute assists hearing care professionals in helping hearing impaired people address the physical, psychological and social challenges of hearing loss.
