Competency information
Details
Obtain a basic history of hearing difficulties in a routine adult patient, their use of hearing aids where appropriate, using communication strategies appropriate to the patient and the situation. (NB patients seen in this section will often be new patients and are therefore unlikely to already have a hearing aid.)
Considerations
- The range of communication strategies with people with a range of hearing and communication difficulties, including the use of verbal and non-verbal communication skills such as voice intonation, eye contact, use of gesture, questioning and listening skills.
- The importance of identifying the source of referral, including formal or opportunistic screening.
- The proportion of new to follow-up patients, and any differences in age range or in different diagnostic groups.
- The different referral routes and the range of diagnostic, assessment and management pathways.
- The range of diseases and conditions pertinent to history taking.
- Factors relevant to history, including communication need, social factors, if appropriate, speech and language.
- How to judge the reliability of information provided and the importance of recording these judgements.
- The range of symptoms relevant to the clinical question.
- The importance of obtaining information at a sufficient level of detail and the implications of insufficient or inaccurate information for diagnosis and management.
- Identify the most common reason for attendance in at least one age range.
Relevant learning outcomes
| # | Outcome |
|---|---|
| # 2 | Outcome Obtain accurate and reproducible non-masked pure tone audiograms from adult patients. |
| # 3 | Outcome Perform a subjective listening test and comment on the performance of a hearing aid. |
| # 4 | Outcome Apply the fundamental principles of aural rehabilitation. |