Nærum, Denmark, May 10 -- The Ida Institute, a global leader in person-centered hearing healthcare, has launched a pioneering resource, ‘Partnering for Great Hearing Care,’ to help hearing care professionals and people with hearing loss build trusting, productive partnerships.
Evidence shows that when clinicians and clients trust each other and work together in an active, equal partnership where decisions are taken jointly, outcomes for clients improve and clinicians experience greater job satisfaction.
But building this partnership is not always easy. With this in mind, the Ida Institute has created a free, interactive, animated resource centered on a series of conversations between Peter, who has hearing loss, and his audiologist Sara.
Peter and Sara show a great partnership in action and give practical examples of how users can work with their client or clinician to build their own productive partnership, based on four building blocks: build trust, connect as people, be active partners, and invite family and friends.
Users can also watch videos of real-life appointments showing strong hearing care partnerships in action, download a summary of practical tips, and access links to resources that can help further.
The guide can be sent to new clients ahead of a first appointment or before a follow-up, integrated into audiology programs to train students in person-centered care, or used by practicing audiologists to refresh and update their skills.
"When there's trust between clients and healthcare providers, the outcomes are better for everyone. But sadly, as our 2020 Future Hearing Journeys project showed, the field of hearing care is characterized by distrust on many levels," says Lisa Lotte Bundesen, Managing Director of the Ida Institute.
“By directly addressing trust as a cornerstone of successful hearing care and speaking to both clients and clinicians, this resource can help both groups build trusting, active, and open partnerships that lead to better care and better self-management of the condition.”
‘A fresh and clear look at partnership’
As well as exposing a lack of trust across the sector, the global research project Future Hearing Journeys found that people with hearing loss and professionals value partnership and human connection in hearing care consultations. This reflects a global megatrend across healthcare, but research suggests that real understanding of what it takes to build such partnerships is lacking.
Through interviews with people with hearing loss and their clinicians, the Ida Institute collected insights about successful partnerships and identified the key ingredients. The animated resource was then created and tested with extensive input from consumers and professionals, as well as patient and professional organizations around the world.
Feedback has already been positive, with the guide described by one professional as “a terrific reminder of how to create a patient-centric experience with emphasis on teamwork,” and by a consumer as “a fresh and clear look at the partnership between hearing professionals and those with hearing loss.”
The animated guide and PDF summary are available for free on the Ida Institute website: https://idainstitute.com/tools/partnering_for_great_hearing_care/
Learn more about the Ida Institute at idainstitute.com or sign up for the institute’s weekly newsletter.
