Clinical protocol for Hearing Health Services for the care of adults and elderly

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To develop a clinical protocol for patient care in the selection, verification, and validation process of hearing aids; to verify the viability of the protocol during its use by specialists in the field; to establish the graphical representation of the protocol by means of a flowchart with algorithms.

Methods

We conducted a literature review to collect the procedures required for developing clinical protocols in healthcare services and the main procedures at each step along the process of fitting hearing aids. Subsequently, we developed the protocol, which was evaluated by eight audiologists in terms of its content and ease of use. We considered the issues raised by the professionals and then drew up a final document, as well as a flowchart with process algorithms.

Results

A protocol after having conducted an extensive survey of the literature was developed; all audiologists reported that the use of the instrument was of great value in their clinical practice; finally, we created the flowchart with algorithms after having developed the protocol and, by extension, we also created the Standard Operational Procedure for the selection, verification and validation process of hearing aids.

Conclusion

The clinical protocol for the care of patients in the selection, verification and validation process of hearing aids was developed and validated by means of its use by professionals. The information and data we collected allowed a graphical representation of the protocol and its steps as a flowchart with algorithms.

Keywords
Hearing Aids; Clinical Protocols; Hearing Loss; Adult; Elderly; Correction of Hearing Impairment