Important health information is missed by about 43% of patients who are 60 or older, as reported by recent studies. Significant details, regarding health care, might be missed because of hearing loss.
There is a Global Hearing Epidemic
Hearing loss isn’t a small situation. Disabling hearing loss is an issue globally for about a third of people who are 65 or older.
But shockingly, if we look a little closer we find that only 30% of those people who suffer from debilitating hearing loss have taken steps to improve their situation. This trend isn’t good news for medical care as we’ll demonstrate next.
With Health Care – Communication is Key
A major cause of death is medical error and miscommunication is a leading cause of medical error. A report from Harvard showed that up to 37% of severe injuries that resulted from medical errors could have been avoided with improved communication. An improved ability to communicate essential information with patients could save lives.
How Medical Care is Impacted by Hearing Loss
Statistics can be a bit fuzzy and intangible so let’s consider some important info you might miss when talking to doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other medical professionals.
With regards to reaching health objectives, the advice of health care professionals is a vital element. Perhaps they’re explaining healthy insulin or blood pressure levels. There are particular things that can be harmful if they are not handled in a way that your health care professional recommends. Managing your condition could get away from you if you miss essential advice.
These medical providers might explain danger zones that reveal that you need medical care. You may not get the assistance that you need because you didn’t fully understand what your doctor was explaining.
There may be crucial details about dangerous side effects of medications which your pharmacist is trying to make you aware of. You think you heard everything but you lose a critical detail and wind up in the hospital.
Maybe you receive a warning about some dangerous activity from your physical therapist. You miss the recommendation and sustain a serious fall as a result.
It’s Particularly Difficult to Communicate Medical Information
Putting medical information in the proper context is especially difficult. When you miss some piece of information because of your hearing loss, you make use of context to attempt to fill in what you missed. Compensating for hearing loss is something that your brain is actually rather good at. You may even come to believe that you heard something that you really didn’t hear, it’s that good at compensating.
The meaning of a sentence can be entirely changed, when dealing with medical information, with something as basic as a “don’t” or “not”. A danger zone, goal, or dosage, could be
completely altered with one missed number.
In medical care the slightest details matter. Misunderstanding them has been shown to lead to medical errors.
Having Your Hearing Loss Treated
You could be missing important medical advice if you suffer from hearing loss. It’s time to do something about that and get your hearing back.