Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Accommodate people with hearing loss in the hospital

Margaret Mortz, PhD
Conditions
August 17, 2011
Share
Tweet
Share

Hospital care for people with hearing loss can be ineffective when people cannot communicate.  Most hard-of-hearing people do not know sign language because they lost hearing later in life and remain in the oral culture.    Without effective communication, quality of care is impaired and patient compliance is often reduced. The patient’s bed needs to have proper signage and chart records to alert staff of special communication needs.

Ironically, many hard-of-hearing people don’t call themselves “deaf” and sometimes are in denial.  However, they may have high-frequency hearing loss that means they cannot understand many consonants and confuse words. Lip-reading involves guesswork since many consonants look the same.  Unfortunately patients often bluff and pretend they understand. Shouting usually does more harm than good because it can distort sounds or causes discomfort.  Shouting can sometimes violate HIPAA regulations for privacy.

Very few hospital staff understand the value of assistive listening devices for this population.  Examples include the small radios called FM systems and other technologies. They often provide enough of a signal-to-noise (SNR) improvement to overcome the lack of sensory acuity. Better SNR will reduce the cognitive load and allow more comprehension of instructions.  Real-time captioning can serve as an “interpreter” for people who don’t know sign language, as well as providing a transcript.  Laptops can often access internet-based captioning resource via WiFi if qualified local captioners are not available.

Many hard-of-hearing patients have never heard of assistive technology, so it is up to the care provider to explain it and encourage its use.   This is not an extra burden, but a way to provide better care.  It is also compatible with the requirements of the U.S. Americans of Disabilities Act to provide equal communication access.

If patients wear hearing aids or cochlear implants, the aids are often removed in the hospital.   They need to be given to the patient before communication, using good hygiene practice.

I write this as a person with hearing loss who has had problems at several hospitals in several states.  Although I have a PhD in electrical engineering, I have to admit that it takes much more than technology to improve communications.  Caregivers need to recognize effective communication as essential to quality outcomes.  They need to be courteous to the hard of hearing patients.  All staff needs to have knowledge on how to accommodate people with hearing loss.  All staff needs to know the quality impacts of effective communications.  Administration needs to enforce compliance as part of their efforts to produce quality care outcomes.  The extra minute to provide the effective communication in a courteous manner can have great benefit in patient understanding and compliance.

Margaret Mortz is a former engineering professor, hearing loss advocate, and owner of MortzResearch.com.

Submit a guest post and be heard on social media’s leading physician voice.

Prev

Why is it so difficult for doctors to stay on time?

August 16, 2011 Kevin 6
…
Next

Will a healthy lifestyle prevent illness?

August 17, 2011 Kevin 19
…

Tagged as: Patients

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Why is it so difficult for doctors to stay on time?
Next Post >
Will a healthy lifestyle prevent illness?

ADVERTISEMENT

More in Conditions

  • Addressing menstrual health inequities in adolescents

    Callia Georgoulis
  • Healing beyond the surface: Why proper chronic wound care matters

    Alvin May, MD
  • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • What a childhood stroke taught me about the future of neurosurgery and the promise of vagus nerve stimulation

    William J. Bannon IV
  • Facing terminal cancer as a doctor and mother

    Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO
  • Why doctors must stop ignoring unintentional weight loss in patients with obesity

    Samantha Malley, FNP-C
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
    • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

      GJ van Londen, MD | Meds
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Addressing menstrual health inequities in adolescents

      Callia Georgoulis | Conditions
    • How to advance workforce development through research mentorship and evidence-based management

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • The truth about perfection and identity in health care

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • Civil discourse as a leadership competency: the case for curiosity in medicine

      All Levels Leadership | Physician
    • Healing beyond the surface: Why proper chronic wound care matters

      Alvin May, MD | Conditions
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 4 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
    • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

      GJ van Londen, MD | Meds
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Addressing menstrual health inequities in adolescents

      Callia Georgoulis | Conditions
    • How to advance workforce development through research mentorship and evidence-based management

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • The truth about perfection and identity in health care

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • Civil discourse as a leadership competency: the case for curiosity in medicine

      All Levels Leadership | Physician
    • Healing beyond the surface: Why proper chronic wound care matters

      Alvin May, MD | Conditions
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Accommodate people with hearing loss in the hospital
4 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...