Research shows that about 43% of patients over 60 may be missing fundamental health information as a result of hearing loss. Major details, when it comes to health care, could be missed because of hearing loss.
Hearing Loss – A Global Epidemic
Hearing loss is a major issue. Worldwide, one third of individuals who are 65 or older have debilitating hearing loss.
But shockingly, if we look a little closer we find that only 30% of those people who have debilitating hearing loss have taken measures to improve their situation. In terms of medical care, this is bad news.
With Medical Care – Communication is Essential
Miscommunication is one of the major causes of medical errors, and medical errors are still one of the leading causes of death. A study from Harvard showed that as many as 37% of serious injuries that resulted from medical errors could have been avoided with improved communication. Lives could be saved if essential information could be better communicated with patients.
How Hearing Loss Impacts Medical Care
When you are speaking with pharmacists, nurses, or doctors there is some information you won’t want to miss so let’s not linger on statistics.
Doctors and nurses advise you regarding specific health objectives. They might explain what balanced levels are for things like blood sugar or blood pressure. There are certain things that can be harmful if they are not handled in a way that your health care professional advises. You could be missing essential pieces of advice that would help you manage your condition.
You might be in a situation where your physician informs you that you need medical attention. You might not get the help that you require because you didn’t fully comprehend what your doctor was saying.
There might be essential details about dangerous side effects of medications which your pharmacist is attempting to make you aware of. You believe you heard everything but you miss an important detail and wind up in the hospital.
Perhaps you get a warning against doing some dangerous activity from your physical therapist. You miss the advice and suffer a serious fall as a result.
It’s Especially Difficult to Communicate Medical Data
Discussing medical data is especially challenging because of a little thing called context. When you have hearing loss, you make use of context to “fill in the blanks” where you missed something. Your brain is in fact really good at compensating for hearing loss. 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 totally altered, when addressing medical information, with something as basic as a “don’t” or “not”. A danger zone, goal, or dosage, could be
totally altered with one missed number.
The slightest detail makes a big difference when it comes to medical care. Missing them has been shown to lead to medical mistakes.
Having Your Hearing Loss Treated
You could be missing vital medical advice if you suffer from hearing loss. It’s time to do something about that and get your hearing back.