For years, most people who “pass” their audiogram and are considered to have near-normal hearing have been told to “Come back in a few years.” But the fact that the audiogram has been shown to have little correlation to performance in challenging listening situations (eg, hearing in noise) and that they were motivated to obtain a hearing test in the first place poses some important questions.

In this webinar, brought to Hearing Review readers courtesy of CareCredit, Brian Taylor, AuD, summarizes findings from recent studies about people with near-normal hearing, and introduces strategies and tools for assessing how you might be of greater service to them—while paving a path for better hearing health and communication. In a short review of the literature, Dr Taylor shows evidence for there being a surprisingly high percentage of working-age adults (eg, as high as 12%) with normal audiometric thresholds who have difficulty hearing in common listening situations. He then describes several self-report measures that can be used as an important part of clinical management for gaining insights into the “patient-perspective,” including the new Patient Assessment of Communication Abilities (PACA) that can be used routinely in the clinic.

Once the listening difficulties of these individuals are identified, Dr Taylor describes how situational remediation—including the use of hearables, assistive devices, and strategies to improve daily communication—can be applied.

Attend this webinar. The webinar is now available on demand. Click here to view it.

And get the What Works Toolkit. In conjunction with the webinar, CareCredit will be offering a free What Works Toolkit at Booth #524 of the American Academy of Audiology Convention in Washington, DC. This toolkit includes a new hearing aid pricing survey, 10-year state-by-state sales statistics, customer loyalty business tools, focused white papers, and webinar overviews—all in a special report designed to help you and your practice succeed in today’s business environment. To reserve your copy, visit http://goo.gl/l0CVof.

This webinar originally ran on Thursday, April 7 at 2:00 PM EST.