Best Practice Statement
Maximising Communication with Older People who have Hearing Disability (PDF, 327K, 1.33 mins)
About the Best Practice Statement
This best practice statement has been produced by NHS QIS from the collaborative development work of the Gerontological Nursing Demonstration Project research team (Glasgow Caledonian University), the Maximising communication with older people who have hearing disability Community of Practice (Appendix 6), the staff of Ward 7, Royal Victoria Hospital, Edinburgh and community staff in Lerwick, Shetland. It is the first of the best practice statements to be demonstrated in a community nurse s caseload in addition to an inpatient facility.
The underlying aim of this work is to offer evidence-based nursing guidance to maximise communication with older people with hearing disability. In particular, it is relevant to older people in hospital, attending a day hospital or living in their own homes.
The ability to communicate effectively is fundamental to quality of life and wellbeing in older people. However, there is evidence that older people with hearing disability are not well served by healthcare professionals, both in terms of recognising and detecting the nature of the difficulties, and managing them effectively. A general failure to recognise hearing impairment as problematic for older people has been found despite the increasing prevalence with advancing years. In addition, there is a tendency within the specialist literature to focus on the provision of personal hearing aids, consequently, relatively little attention has been given to other aspects of audiological rehabilitation, including management of the older person s listening environment. Conservative nursing interventions have the potential to improve much of the distress associated with this common, but under-recognised condition, and significantly improve the older person s healthcare experience. In order to achieve this, aknowledgeable nursing staff is required. To date, however, there has been little in the way of specific care guidance, the implicit assumption within the literature being that nurses intuitively know how to recognise and manage hearing disability among older people.
This best practice statement provides the explicit detail necessary to guide the development of knowledge and skills among nursing staff, and enable a level and quality of practice to be achieved to minimise the impact of hearing disability on older people in their care.