For Dr. Sinclair, the most important part of being an Audiologist is building a personalised relationship. Taking care of emotional considerations is the first step to an effective hearing strategy.
Dr. Sinclair is in the business of aural rehabilitation. A rehabilitation program is the fundamental difference between a hearing aid dispenser and audiologist. The former does not provide the holistic approach.
Dr. Sinclair has been 16 years working for HearX. She doesn't own the practice and blames the shabby looking office to the owner company (Siemens).
Her practice specialises in having open recovery groups. That means that more advance hearing aid users share experiences with fresh hearing aid users. The groups are more about emotional support than anything else.
Group support is key to a successful adoption of the hearing aid.
really interesting point eduardo regarding the differences between prescribing a hearing aid and hearing "rehab."
ReplyDeleteThe point came up today at the Harley street Clinic (UK's most prestigious private clinic) that an NHS system would prescribe the full blown hearing prescription whereas the private sector are more involved in facilitating the recovery gradually of a patients hearing.
Apparently some patients who have gone through the NHS have lapsed out of the category, because they go from hearing very little to BOOOM! which is painful for their ears - - those in the private sector are more sensitive to this.
I wonder if Phonak could be involved in some sort of rehab initiatives regardless of public or private..
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