Ida Institute, Naerum, Denmark, has introduced the Reflective Journal, a practical tool to help hearing care professionals explore issues in the patient-practitioner relationship and use the insights gained to enhance their ability to practice more effectively, says the Institute.

The tool, produced by Institute faculty and staff, represents the collaborative thinking of 65 hearing and health care professionals worldwide who participated in the Institute’s first seminar series, says the Institute.  The Journal guides practitioners through a series of questions to help formalize the reflecting process. 

The newest tool was inspired by lectures on the reflective practice given by Ida Institute faculty member Christine de Placido at the recently completed Institute seminar series titled The Process of Defining Hearing. DePlacido, a senior lecturer and program leader for the audiology department of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, Scotland, defines reflective practice as continuous self-reflection that enhances a practitioner’s ability to frame problems, question assumptions, explore appropriate options, and develop solutions that benefit the practitioner and the patient. She points out that reflective practice has been implemented successfully in other health and caring professions to develop self-awareness and to improve critical thinking and the ability to make judgements in complex and uncertain situations.

My Ida membership is required to access the Journal and other online tools. Membership is free and open to hearing and health care professionals and all others interested in the dynamics of hearing loss. Click here to download the Reflective Journal.   

Established in 2007 with a grant from the Oticon Foundation, the Ida Institute is as a nonprofit, independent educational institute.

[Source: Ida Institute]