Aural Rehabilitation plan
Case Selected: Timothy Covington – 30s black male, uses hearing aids in both ears moderately severe hearing loss, loves music and dancing, identifies as being little d community.
For Timothy’s case, he identifies with the little d community, which means that he developed deafness at later stages of life, and this is after they have acquired a spoken language. Based on this, he identifies himself with the hearing community. According to the characteristics of the people in this group, they are more likely to use hearing aids and develop lip-reading skills.
Treatment schedule for hearing aid success
The patient to be assessed 3-4 times a week. Each session lasts approximately 60 minutes.
The First 2-3 sessions for treatment, while the last session is for a probe.
The aim of the treatment is to improve the quality of life through hearing restoration.
Step 1: Education
The initial step involves understanding the nature of hearing loss and understanding what hearing aid can be effective in solving the hearing problem. Timothy already uses hearing aids on both ears. However, since he has undergone hearing loss, and since his case is moderately severe, he can be helped by not only using the hearing aid but also having surgery for a cochlea implant. Helping Timothy understand that he can hear again by surgery can be a great step towards a successful hearing aid success.
Step 2: Changing values
At this stage, the patient is counseled to help them understand that the use of hearing aids is not necessarily a sign of aging. Therefore, Timothy should adopt the full use of hearing aids to assist in the rehabilitation of the ears.
Step 3: Changing attitudes
At this stage, Timothy needs to learn the appropriate hearing aid styles and needs to understand the benefits gained from the use of hearing aid, in that it exceeds monetary and non-monetary costs. Fully accepting that he cannot hear and that this can be achieved using hearing aids can only be achieved by helping Timothy change his attitude by letting him know the benefits. Besides, he loves music and dancing, and using the hearing aids to listen to music can help change his attitude.
Step 4: Motivate the patient to act
After letting Timothy learn the importance of using a hearing aid at all times and also helping him change his attitude, the next step would be to help him act. This entails wearing the hearing aid at all times so that he does not lose touch with the environment. Besides, encouraging him to wear hearing aids when listening to music and dancing can help in hearing aid success.
Step 5: Evaluation
This is the last stage and helps in determining whether the hearing aids are working for Timothy. If the hearing level has not changed, a cochlea implant can be done to aid in hearing.