Essential health information is missed by about 43% of patients who are 60 or older, as reported by recent studies. At a time when heeding medical guidance is so important, patients might be missing important details about their care.
There is a Worldwide Hearing Epidemic
Hearing loss isn’t a small problem. Disabling hearing loss is a problem globally for around a third of individuals over 65.
If we take it further, we discover that surprisingly only about 30% of those same senior citizens who suffer with hearing loss have, or use, solutions that would improve their hearing. When it comes to medical care, this is bad news.
With Health Care – Communication is Key
A major cause of death is medical error and miscommunication is a leading cause of medical error. A study from Harvard revealed that up to 37% of serious injuries that were caused by medical errors could have been prevented with improved communication. Lives could be saved if important information could be better communicated with patients.
How Medical Care is Affected by Hearing Loss
When you are speaking 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 talking to you about healthy insulin or blood pressure levels. They might tell you to stay away from certain foods to prevent spikes in these numbers that can be harmful. You might be missing important pieces of advice that would help you manage your situation.
You may be in a situation where your medical provider notifies you that you require medical care. You may not get the help that you need because you didn’t completely comprehend what your doctor was saying.
There may be important details about dangerous side effects of medications which your pharmacist is trying to warn you about. You could wind up in the hospital or worse because you thought you heard all the information but you didn’t.
Maybe you receive a warning against doing some dangerous activity from your physical therapist. You might suffer a serious fall because you missed that advice.
Why Communicating Medical Details is Particularly Demanding
Communicating medical information is especially challenging because of a little thing called context. When you suffer from hearing loss, you utilize context to “fill in the blanks” where you missed something. Compensating for hearing loss is something your brain is in fact rather good at. You might even come to think that you heard something that you actually didn’t hear, it’s that good at compensating.
With medical data something as small as a “don’t” or “not” can totally change the meaning of a sentence. One misunderstood number could totally alter a dosage, a goal, or a danger zone.
The slightest detail makes a big difference when it comes to medical care. When those small details are missed, it can lead to severe medical problems.
Getting Assistance For Hearing Loss
If you’re suffering from hearing loss, you could be missing essential medical advice. It’s time to deal with that and get your hearing back.
