managing hearing loss
How to Create a Hearing Loss Hospital Kit By Shari Eberts
Hearing loss and hospitals are a difficult combination. The environment is hectic and you are probably not feeling your best. Doctors and other medical staff are often masked, dampening the sound of their voices and hiding speechreading cues. Due to COVID-19, family or friends may not be allowed to accompany you to help advocate for your needs. It is up to you to make sure you understand your diagnosis and the decisions that are required for your care. Hearing loss can make that challenging. Proper preparation is the key to success. Here are tips for creating a hearing loss hospital kit, based on one produced by the Edmonton branch of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association. Plan and disclose.
Have a list of items to ask for before you arrive at the hospital, such as an amplified telephone or a captioned TV in your room. Since hearing loss is invisible, visual reminders of your hearing loss are critical. Print out the international symbol for hearing loss and the message “I Am Hard of Hearing” to display above or beside your bed, or pin a button to your gown that says you are hard of hearing. Even with visual aids, you may still need to remind staff about your hearing loss at the start of each shift. Do so with a smile.
Create tipsheets.
A communications tipsheet to be shared with caregivers can go a long way toward better understanding. Here’s a sample: I am hard of hearing. Please:
» Get my attention before talking. I need to
see your face to read lips. » Speak clearly—don’t over-emphasize or shout. » If possible, turn off background noise. » Rephrase (not just repeat) if misunderstood. » Write down important information. » Ask me to repeat vital facts to be sure I understand correctly. Bring a pen and notebook as a backup. Or use a speech-totext app on your smartphone. Speaking of devices, prepare chargers and extension cords and label everything. You can use personalized return address labels (often sent to you for free in the mail) to ID your equipment.
Protect your hearing aids.
Hearing aids are easy to misplace at the hospital. If your backup devices are fairly recent, consider using them in the hospital instead, keeping your primary and more expensive technology safe at home. Hearing aids may need to be removed for a procedure or to sleep. Bring a container labeled with your name and identifying the contents as hearing aids. This is also a good place to store extra hearing aid batteries and a hearing aid battery tester. Add to your kit a Ziploc bag labeled with your name with a safety pin inside. You can use the Ziploc to safely stash your hearing aids if they need to be removed when you are outside your hospital room. Pin it to your gown so your hearing aids are not misplaced—a simple, smart way to keep track of them.
Shari Eberts serves on the Board of Trustees of the Hearing Loss Association of America and is a past chair of HHF’s Board of Directors. A version of this originally appeared on her blog, livingwithhearingloss.com. For references, see hhf.org/fall2020-references.
a publication of hearing health foundation
fall 2020
15
