Hearing loss: getting every answer in writing

Hand the questions over on paper at the start

Do not read your questions aloud in a clinic room. Print them, leave a wide margin, and hand the sheet across at the beginning of the appointment with a plain sentence: my mother hears better when things are written, could you write your answers here.

This single move changes appointments. It removes the guessing, it gives your parent something to take away, and it gives you a record with the clinician's own words on it. Most offices will do it without hesitation when asked at the start rather than at the end.

Ask for the after-visit summary printed, every time, and ask that any instruction be included on it rather than explained verbally at the door.

At the end, ask one more written question: who do I call between now and the next appointment, and what is the number. File the sheet in date order in the binder.

• Questions printed, with a wide right-hand margin
• Handed over at the start, with a short explanation
• The after-visit summary, printed, every time
• Any instruction written rather than spoken at the door
• The next appointment date, written down before leaving
• Who to call between visits, and the number
• The sheet filed in date order afterwards

Ask for a note on the file, and for the room to be arranged

Ask every office your parent attends to add a note to the record about how to communicate — face the person, write things down, do not call the name across a waiting room. It is a routine administrative request and it persists between visits, which is the point.

Ask how your parent will be called from the waiting room, since a name called across a room may not be heard. Ask whether someone can come and fetch them. Write down what was agreed and the name of the person who agreed it.

Ask about assistive listening equipment at the site and whether the room used can be a quieter one. Public facilities often have equipment nobody asks for.

Make the same request of the pharmacy, the bank and any regular service. One phone call each, recorded on the same tracking page with a date.

• A note on the file at every office — asked for by name
• How your parent will be called from the waiting room
• Whether a quieter room is available
• Assistive listening equipment on site — ask what exists
• Written rather than spoken instructions at every visit
• The same request made to pharmacy, bank and regular services
• A tracking page: who was asked, when, what was agreed

The hearing aid record

Hearing aids are equipment with model numbers, warranties, consumable parts and repair routes, and every one of those facts is needed at a moment when you are in a hurry.

Keep one page: make, model and serial number of each aid, left and right, the date supplied, the audiologist and practice, the warranty period and end date, the battery type or charger model, and the size of any domes or filters. Photograph the aids and the box.

Record every repair: date sent, what was reported, date returned. Note whether a loan aid was provided. Add the supplier for consumables and the reorder point, so batteries and filters never run out on a weekend.

Ask two administrative questions and write the answers: what does the insurance plan cover and when does the next review fall due. Put the review date in the calendar.

• Make, model and serial number, left and right
• Date supplied, practice and audiologist name
• Warranty period and end date
• Battery type or charger model; dome and filter sizes
• Where consumables are bought, and the reorder point
• Repair log: date sent, what was reported, date returned
• Insurance coverage and the next review date, in the calendar

Phones, doorbells and the equipment that carries information

Most of the information that runs a household arrives by phone or doorbell. When those stop working reliably, appointments are missed and deliveries are returned, and it looks like forgetfulness when it is not.

Ask about captioned telephone services, which are available at no charge in the US through state programs for people with hearing loss and require an application form. Write down the program name, what it requires, the date applied and the reference number.

Inventory the alerting equipment already in the house — amplified phone, doorbell, smoke alarm signaller — with make, model and where it is. Note anything that needs a battery, and put those in the calendar.

Then do the administrative fix: ask every important office to contact your parent by post or through you rather than by phone, and record who agreed to that and when. Put your own number as a second contact where it is offered.

• Captioned telephone service: program name, form, date applied, reference
• Amplified phone, doorbell and alarm signallers — make, model, location
• Battery replacement dates, in the calendar
• Which offices will contact by post rather than phone
• Your number added as a second contact where allowed
• A written note of who agreed to what, with dates
• Delivery instructions written for couriers, so parcels are not returned

Never let an important change arrive by phone call alone

Appointment changes, prescription changes and test results delivered by phone are the highest-risk administrative moments in a household with hearing loss, because a half-heard message looks exactly like a fully understood one.

Make it a standing rule and write it on the front of the binder: anything important is confirmed in writing. When you take a call, write down the date, the time, the caller's name, their organisation and what was said, then read it back to them on the call and ask for confirmation by post, email or patient portal.

If your parent takes a call alone, keep a pad and pen by the phone with four printed prompts: who called, what number, about what, when to call back. Four blanks is enough.

File the call log in date order. It resolves nearly every later dispute about what was arranged.

• A standing rule, written on the binder: important things in writing
• Call log: date, time, caller, organisation, what was said
• Read it back on the call and ask for written confirmation
• A pad by the phone with four printed prompts
• Portal or email confirmation requested where available
• The call log filed in date order
• Anything unresolved carried onto the next appointment's question sheet

Questions