Patient Counseling and Rehabilitation Flashcards

A hearing aid wearer complains that their own voice sounds 'hollow' or 'like talking in a barrel.' This phenomenon is called:

Answer: The occlusion effect

The occlusion effect occurs when the ear canal is blocked, causing low-frequency bone-conducted vocal energy to resonate in the occluded space.

Which of the following is the BEST example of an 'anticipatory strategy' for a patient with hearing loss?

Answer: Requesting a quiet table near the wall when making a restaurant reservation

Anticipatory strategies are proactive—taken before a communication situation—to optimize listening conditions before any breakdown occurs.

A patient with tinnitus reports that it is most bothersome at bedtime in a quiet room. The MOST appropriate rehabilitation recommendation is:

Answer: Recommend low-level background sound (a fan, nature sounds, or a sound machine) at night

Sound enrichment reduces the contrast between tinnitus and silence, making tinnitus less perceptually prominent and improving sleep.

During group aural rehabilitation, a patient becomes emotional when discussing the impact of hearing loss on family relationships. The facilitator should FIRST:

Answer: Acknowledge the patient's feelings and allow brief sharing before refocusing

Acknowledging emotions validates the patient's experience and fosters group cohesion before gently returning to the structured curriculum.

The TELEGRAM approach to communication strategies emphasizes that T stands for:

Answer: Topic—informing the listener about the subject before speaking

In the TELEGRAM approach, T = Topic: announcing the conversation topic helps the listener with hearing loss use contextual cues to follow along.

A patient with unilateral hearing loss (normal hearing in one ear) is MOST likely to report difficulty with:

Answer: Localizing the direction of sound and hearing in background noise

Binaural hearing is essential for sound localization and the head shadow benefit; unilateral loss eliminates these advantages in noisy environments.

When evaluating hearing aid benefit during a rehabilitation follow-up, the HHIE (Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly) measures:

Answer: The patient's perceived social and emotional impact of hearing loss

The HHIE is a self-report questionnaire assessing the social and emotional consequences of hearing impairment, not audiometric measures.