Hearing Awareness Project
For Doctors
Making an Appointment
- Provide your clients with your email address if you have one, to make appointments as opposed to forcing them to use the telephone
- Those who use the telephone may have difficulty doing so. Train your staff how to communicate clearly on the telephone
Waiting Room
- Devise a strategy to alert patients when it is their turn - either by staff alerting them personally or installing a visual alerting system
- Make your waiting area user friendly: 1) provide lots of signage regarding health cards, and hours of operation and, 2) make sure you always have free reading material on hearing loss available for them to take home
- Induction Loops in your reception/waiting area will help clients understand the receptionist and hear their name announced
Communication with Hearing aid users
- Even if someone is wearing a hearing aid, it does not mean that they can follow what you are saying. Ask them to tell you if they don't understand
- Keep an Assistive Listening Device in your consultation room to help those who do not have a hearing aid, or to supplement those who do
- Try to reduce background noise such as radios and televisions
Speaking to your patients
- Speak in a moderate rhythm, try not to change the subject suddenly
- Keep a pen and paper handy in case you need to write anything down
- Make sure you have the listener's attention before you start speaking
- Speak clearly but not too slowly, and do not exaggerate your lip movements. Use natural facial expressions and gestures
- If someone does not understand what you have said, do not just keep repeating it, try rephrasing the subject
- Use plain language and do not waffle. Avoid jargon and unfamiliar abbreviations or acronyms
- To facilitate lip-reading, face the patient and avoid placing objects in front or your face or turning away while speaking
- Augment communication with diagrams and other visual aids
- Ensure the patient understands any medical terminology used
Environment
- Avoid sitting in a poorly lit room or with bright light behind you; this makes it more difficult to see your face
- Find a suitable place to talk, away from noise and distractions
- Hospitals should consider using accessibility symbols next to a patient's bed to easily and unobtrusively indicate if a patient has a hearing loss. Remember to ask patients if this is acceptable to them
- Carry out a Communication Accessibility Audit, to consider the needs of patients with hearing loss
Protocol
- Familiarize yourself with your province's Disabilities or Human Rights Act
- Set guidelines on how to deal with patients with hearing loss, so all staff feel confident about communicating effectively
- Ask if a captioner, oral or sign language interpreter is needed
- Talk to the patient, NOT the interpreter
- Ask patients how they prefer to communicate, and mark their notes/files with accessibility symbols to inform other staff
- Provide patients with written information about their condition, medicine or treatment choices
Resources
- Keep details of Captioner, Oral or Sign Language interpreter services handy
- Be aware of current products for your office or hospital stay, such as induction loops for reception and listening devices for the consulting room
- Keep details of how to use Message Relay Services
Training
- Ensure that all staff that deal with patients have hearing awareness training
For Patients
Tips for Patients
- Ask them if they have an email address you can use to make appointments as opposed to calling by telephone
- Tell the receptionist how to get your attention when it is your time to see the doctor
- Ask your nurse/doctor/healthcare staff to speak clearly and to face towards you when speaking
- Remember, your hearing diminishes when you are tired or ill
- If you hear better on one side, ask them to speak to that side, or face to face, whichever way is preferable to you
- Do not nod your head in acknowledgement if you have not understood
- Ask them to rephrase a statement you do not understand
- If you cannot comprehend what they are saying, ask them to write it down
- Repeat what you heard to make sure you understood correctly
- Ask for written information about your condition, your medicine or your treatment choices
- If you use hearing aids or other devices, make sure you bring them with you to your appointment
- Hearing aid baterries - do not leave home without them
- Provide your nurse/doctor with access symbols to apply to your medical chart. This will forwarn them in the future how to be prepared to communicate with you
- Provide them with a communication tips list available for free at www.chha.ca
Copyright © 2009 the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association (CHHA)
Direct commercial exploitation is not permitted. No warranty of accuracy is given concerning the contents of the information contained in this publication. To the extent permitted by law, no liability (including liability to any person by reason of negligence) will be accepted by CHHA its subsidiaries or employees for any direct, or indirect loss or damage caused by omissions from or inaccuracies in this document. CHHA reserves the right to change details in this publication without notice.