What is it about?

This article describes a program at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System that helps Veterans with hearing loss while they are in the hospital. Many patients either forget their hearing aids or do not have them available during an unexpected admission, making it hard to talk with doctors and nurses. Our program identifies patients with hearing loss early in their stay and brings audiology care directly to the bedside. Services include checking hearing aids, offering personal amplifiers, and teaching communication tips. By doing this, we make it easier for Veterans to take part in conversations about their care.

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Why is it important?

Good communication is essential for safe and effective medical care, but hearing loss often goes unrecognized in hospitals. This can lead to confusion, missed information, and worse health outcomes. Our program shows that providing audiology care in the hospital is both possible and beneficial. Veterans, nurses, and doctors found the service helpful, and it reduced the need for extra clinic visits after discharge. This work highlights a practical way health systems can improve patient safety and quality of care for people with hearing loss.

Perspectives

As an audiologist, I have often seen how difficult it can be for patients with hearing loss to communicate during a hospital stay. I was motivated to create this program because hearing should not be a barrier to safe, effective care. It was rewarding to see how a simple bedside visit (repairing a hearing aid, offering a personal amplifier, or teaching communication strategies) could make such a big difference for Veterans and their care teams. I hope this program inspires other hospitals to consider how they can support patients with hearing loss in similar ways.

Cecilia Lacey

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: An Audiology Program to Proactively Manage Inpatient Veterans With Hearing Loss, American Journal of Audiology, September 2025, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA),
DOI: 10.1044/2025_aja-25-00070.
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