Research shows that about 43% of patients over 60 might be missing important health information because of hearing loss. Significant details, with regards to health care, could be missed because of hearing loss.
There is a Global Hearing Epidemic
Hearing loss is a major problem. Disabling hearing loss is an issue worldwide for around a third of individuals over 65.
If we delve further, we discover that surprisingly only about 30% of those same senior citizens who suffer with hearing loss have, or use, treatments that would benefit their hearing. This trend isn’t good news for medical care as we’ll illustrate next.
With Medical Care – Communication is Crucial
A major cause of death is medical error and miscommunication is a primary cause of medical error. As many as 37% of serious injuries that were a result of medical errors, according to a Harvard study, would not have occurred if communication had been stronger. Lives could be saved if important information could be better communicated with patients.
How Hearing Loss Impacts Medical Care
When you are talking with pharmacists, nurses, or doctors there is some information you won’t want to miss so let’s not dwell on statistics.
Doctors and nurses advise you regarding specific health objectives. Perhaps they’re explaining healthy insulin or blood pressure levels. There are certain things that can be harmful if they are not controlled in a way that your health care professional advises. You may be missing important pieces of advice that would help you handle your situation.
These medical professionals may explain danger zones that reveal that you need medical care. If you don’t understand completely what the doctor is communicating, you may miss essential warning signs and delay getting help.
Your pharmacist could try to give you a warning about harmful side effects or drug interactions. You believe you heard everything but you lose an important detail and wind up hospitalized.
Perhaps you receive a warning against doing some dangerous activity from your physical therapist. You might suffer a severe fall because you missed that recommendation.
Why Communicating Medical Details is Particularly Demanding
Putting medical information in the correct context is especially difficult. When you miss some piece of information due to your hearing loss, you use context to attempt to fill in what you missed. Your brain is in fact really good at compensating for hearing loss. You might even come to think that you heard something that you really didn’t hear, it’s that good at compensating.
With medical data something as small as a “don’t” or “not” can totally alter the meaning of a sentence. One misunderstood number could completely alter a dosage, a goal, or a danger zone.
In medical care the smallest details make a big difference. When those little details are missed, it can produce severe medical issues.
Getting Help For Hearing Loss
You could be missing important medical advice if you suffer from hearing loss. Now is the time to take the proper steps to save your hearing.