“How can I help you hear?” The transforming power of six little words

Thank you for this article. It is great to hear from a person who remind us all of the problems associated with hearing loss. I am an academic whose job entails multiple meetings and constant interaction with colleagues. I have a significant hearing impairment and lip read extensively. Long ago I learnt to be proactive in managing meetings and interactions with people.

In meetings: I work out where the meeting's chairperson will be sitting, and try to position myself near them and in full view of all participants (hard with some table configurations). I always sit with my back to windows to prevent lipreading silouetted figures. If there are windows behind a speaker, I will adjust curtains or blinds before the meeting commences. My colleagues are all aware of the problem and I never have a problem with them helping me.

Clinical encounters are usually not troublesome because they are usually in quiet rooms. If a person with a tone of voice that is hard to pick up is the patient, I confess my problem and they nearly always comply.

So the key is self disclosure - for patients that would mean to reception staff and clinical staff.