Essential health information is missed by around 43% of patients over the age of 60, according to recent research. At a time when heeding medical guidance is so essential, patients might be missing major details related to their care.
There is a Global Hearing Epidemic
Hearing loss isn’t a small issue. Debilitating hearing loss is an issue worldwide for about a third of individuals over 65.
But surprisingly, if we look a little closer we find that only 30% of those people with disabling hearing loss have taken steps to improve their situation. This pattern isn’t good news for medical care as we’ll show next.
The Significance of Communication in Medical Care
One of the leading causes of death is medical error and miscommunication is a leading cause of medical error. A report from Harvard revealed that up to 37% of serious injuries that were caused by medical errors could have been avoided with better communication. An enhanced ability to communicate important information with patients could save lives.
How Medical Care is Affected by Hearing Loss
When you are talking to pharmacists, nurses, or doctors there is some information you won’t want to miss so let’s not dwell on statistics.
With regards to reaching health objectives, the advice of health care professionals is a crucial factor. They may explain what healthy levels are for things like blood sugar or blood pressure. There are some things that can be harmful if they are not managed in a way that your health care professional recommends. Dealing with your condition could get away from you if you miss essential advice.
You might be in a situation where your medical provider informs you that you require medical care. You might not get the assistance that you need because you didn’t completely understand what your doctor was explaining.
Your pharmacist may try to give you a warning about harmful side effects or drug interactions. You could end up in the hospital or worse because you thought you heard all the information but you didn’t.
Perhaps you receive a warning against doing some dangerous activity from your physical therapist. You could suffer a serious fall because you missed that advice.
Why discussing Medical Details is Especially Demanding
Putting medical data in the correct context is especially challenging. When you miss something as a result of your hearing loss, you use context to try to fill in what you missed. Compensating for hearing loss is something that your brain is in fact pretty good at. So good, as a matter of fact, that it may even convince you that you heard something you didn’t actually hear.
With medical data something as small as a “don’t” or “not” can entirely change the meaning of a sentence. One misunderstood number could totally change a dosage, a goal, or a danger zone.
The slightest detail matters when it comes to medical care. Missing them has been shown to lead to medical mistakes.
Getting Help For Hearing Loss
If you have hearing loss, you could be missing needed medical advice. Now is the time to take the appropriate steps to save your hearing.