Audiology Professional Practice
Introduction
Adrienne began experiencing hearing difficulties in her late 40s. Having lived with someone with hearing loss, Adrienne thought that she would have a better understanding of the medical condition because her mother had suffered from hearing loss. However, when it happened to her, she was a bit prepared to tackle the issues that came along with having the condition (Patient Insight Films, 2021, np). For instance, she bought hearing aids. At first, it was hard to adapt to her newfound reality but with time she got used to her situation. A hearing loss made life hard because she never knew if she could be singled out and discriminated against.
When her hearing deteriorated further, she sought medical advice from the National Health’s audiologist but she never got the help she needed. The audiologist who attended to her claimed that she would never hear music again. After the awful ordeal with the audiologist, she decided to seek private medical services. In the private sector, she got all the medical assistance she needed. Her specialist carried out more than 14 tests and ensured that she listened to the patient’s wants and medical needs. The specialists recommended that Adrienne should try using lip-reading glasses. Also during her private sessions, Adrienne joined a class where she met other people with the same hearing condition (Patient Insight Films, 2021, np). Thus, the private audiologist took an interest in the patient and ensured that she provided her every medical need. According to Adrienne's experience, she at the National Health, her medical requirement was never met or even considered unlike in private session where her every need was considered and taken into account. Hence, the private session always kept in touch with Adrienne and monitored her progress closely as they took note of any deviances that might have emerged on the way. The private medical services allowed her to return to her social life hence giving her a second chance at life. Activities such as fingerspelling and lip-reading have given her more things to do while outside the house hence increasing her chances at coping with the hearing loss.
Person-Centered Care for People with Hearing Losses
Person-centered care is attained through numerous strategies such as effective communication and mutual decision mechanisms. Hearing loss impedes one’s ability to make conscious decisions hence leading to societal isolation. The chance one gets to attend medical institutions needs to be followed up by coming to terms with the condition and the formulation of a medical plan (Santana et al., 2018, 429). Person-centered care should aim at addressing the impact of hearing loss on an individual and the most effective way of dealing with the issue that arises as a result of the manifestation of the hearing loss. The important role of person-centered care has been defined all over the world by administrations and even policymakers. Person-centered care facilitates the collaboration between medical care specialists, clients, and other third parties such as relatives (Wallström, and Ekman, 2018, 118). This collaboration allows clients to actively take part in their medical care and supports independent decision making. One of the most primary elements of person-centered care is the joint decision-making process which implies consultation mechanisms whose aim is informing the decision-making mechanisms while at the same time accounting for the values and personal preferences. Joint decision making is made possible through pro-active ingenuities such as effective communication and support decision making.
Person-centered care is pertinent due especially among deaf patients and residential aged individuals. For instance, Adrienne felt neglected and abandoned as the system seemed like they never gave her enough attention. During one of Adrienne's visits, the audiologists claimed that she will never be able to listen to music again. This statement shuttered her dreams and hopes of ever recovering from hearing loss (Ulin, Olsson, Wolf, and Ekman, 2016, 19). However, the private sessions gave Adrienne the chance to come to terms with her condition and the underlying issues that she needed to deal with before she could be able to handle the intricacies that came as a result of the hearing loss. Whenever she inquired about her condition, during the private session (Haydon, Browne, and van der Riet, 2018, 125). One of the main aims of person centered care is solving a medical challenge based on the preferred treatment from the patient. In the meantime, people who prefer the use of person-centered care normally anticipate treatment based on personal needs (Moore et al., 2017, 662) Also, person-centered care is not limited to the amount of time one spends at a medical institution. For instance, in Adrienne’s situation, the specialist kept in touch with her even after she was dismissed from the medical institutions.
At the center of patient-centered care is valuing the client's condition and opinion. For instance, Adrienne never felt appreciated and cared for. She claims that her needs were ignored as she was viewed just as a number. In other words, she never felt special and if she did not feel special, then it means that no one bothered to tailor her medical conditions to the needs of her condition (Bhattacharyya et al., 2019, 242). Secondly, her values were to be observed and not ignored as long as she was receiving her medical treatment. For instance, the first audiologist never seems to bother with the discouraging statement she made about Adrienne. However, the second one cared and ensured that she actively participated in her situation which in turn improved the patient's condition. in this particular case, when she went into more than one issue with the patient, one needs to always monitor the patient to meet the many needs that might emerge from the conversation or even indirect medication.
The hearing loss occurrence increases with an increase in age as other factors. For the sake of bettering the quality care, one has to comprehend person centered care in terms of preference and other issues that might arise while the person is receiving treatment (Sjögren et al., 2017, 44). Person-centered care brings out a specific manner of thinking and carrying out medical services. The planning, development, and initiation of modern-day monitoring systems rely solely on the value systems meeting the needs of the patient. From the footage, one can tell that Adrienne's husband was well versed with her condition due to the partnership between the specialist and other family members.
Person-centered care does not just mean giving details on a patient's status, but the ability to consider her needs, value, family context, communal needs, and even daily routines. Also, the medic has to perceive the patient as a person and creates a common friendship that would enable the building of trust between the patient and the specialist. Adrienne applauded the second audiologist for considering her needs and recommending activities that are aligned to her social needs (Hansson et al., 2016, 276). For the sake of coming to terms with a condition, specialists have to be compassionate and solve medical issues from the patient's perspective. In the meantime, one has to be more conversant with the patient and respectfully while sometimes informing the patient on a thing that needs to be done for the medication to be successful. One way of showing respect is deciding with the patient. A patient has a role to play in the decision-making process as his or her voice is incorporated into the entire medication. The patient should part and parcel of the entire medication and cater to the needs of the entire recovery process.
Adrienne felt that public medical institutions dealt with numerous people hence had no time to fulfill the needs of each patient. In the end, no patient was treated humanely and with the respect they deserved. Helping clients manage their medical condition is not limited to certain activities but the resultant bond that the clinician forms with the patient. A strong bond results in communication between the patient and the specialist. Once one has more than one aspect of medication, the best approach is person centered. In the recent past, people were to fit into rigid medical routines and operations (Naldemirci et al., 2018, 54). However, to make person-centered care services effective, the services are supposed to be tailored according to the needs of the patient and give more meaning to the entire medical service as provided by the specialists. Hearing loss can only be truly aligned to basic patient needs if the patient and the specialist make a joint decision to come up with defined ways of delivering medication. This might involve cooperating with patients' relatives, to settle in suitable ways of offering proper healthcare.
Conclusion
Adrienne was able to better cope with her condition due to her previous interaction with her mother’s hearing loss. The first audiologist who dealt with her situation was not interesting in her wellbeing because she claimed that she would never hear music again. However, the second specialist was a private service provider who stayed in touch with Adrienne. In no time Adrienne enrolled in a lip reading class where she found other people who had her condition. Person centered takes into consideration a person’s needs and values. Adrienne felt appreciated by the second specialist because of the concern and caring attitude she had toward her. Also, during her private clinical session Adrienne had plenty interactions.
References
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