Where There Is No SLP - Hearing Strategies

What can you do, if your home health patient doesn't have speech therapy - but doesn't hear well? Hearing loss is one of the strongest risk factors for cognitive impairment in older persons. Preventing long - term effects of challenges to a patient's hearing is a worthy goal of home health intervention.

Where there is no SLP referral, try to observe the following. Does the patient complain of changes in how the ear feels? Those signs may require a medical referral. Can your patient understand louder sounds best? Does she/he confuse words in conversation? Use strategies that help the patient understand your directions and your teaching. Strategies may include: constant eye contact when speaking; slower speech rate; stressing key words; gesturing; or writing down what you said.

To document the patient's perception of her/his hearing, complete: REVISED HEARING HANDICAP INVENTORY - SCREENING VERSION. THe patient can use the experience of communicating with use of strategies, as well as the self-perception of hearing function, to decide about possible hearing rehabilitation.