Time to Read: 10 minutes
Finding the right hearing aid can be a daunting process, without the right support. It could take lots of research, guessing and several missteps before you find your ideal hearing solution.
Like many people, you might think that once you have decided on a hearing aid, that you have come to the end of your journey.
The truth is however, that you have only just begun your journey. To help you understand what lays ahead, I will explain the various stages of your journey. There is an easy to understand chart at the end to help make it all crystal clear.
This stage is really about discovering the right solution and optimising it for your needs. This phase ideally takes around 60 days and gives you and your brain sufficient opportunity to fully adapt to your new hearing solution. The 60-day time period gives you ample time to move well past the initial honeymoon stage of better hearing to knowing what to expect in the long run.
This phase also allows you to determine that the initially chosen solution is indeed the best for you and allows you an opportunity to change to an alternative or even obtain all your money back if you decide against hearing aids during this initial phase.
Below are the steps taking during this Phase:
This is the start of your journey and includes the hearing aid assessment and selection process. We have developed a very unique assessment process we call a 3D Hearing Assessment. We collaboratively help you make decisions about your ideal hearing solution using three dimensions (lifestyle, measured hearing ability in quiet and measured hearing ability in noise) rather than the two dimensions commonly used (lifestyle and measured hearing ability in quiet). This provides a great deal of accuracy in helping you discover the one or two best solutions for you out of the hundreds available to you. Your preferences are a very important component of this decision making process and are always taken into account.
Even though this step is described as a separate step, we often combine this step with the first step to save you time where possible. The fitting of your hearing solution is a highly accurate process designed to get the best possible initial settings and comfort from your hearing solution for your particular needs.
You are trained in effectively managing your new hearing solution and help you get the most out of your “new ears”.
The initial fitting is normally very good, but is based on averages nonetheless. This appointment allows us to review your experiences after you have had some time to use the hearing solution in your various real life situations. The hearing instruments also log information such as usage patterns, user controls, environmental changes etc. which is considered at this appointment. The information you and the hearing instruments provide is used to improve the performance and comfort of your hearing solution and subsequently your outcomes.
We take the time to revisit important information which may have passed you by in earlier appointments and ensure you are in full control of your hearing solution.
If required, we repeat this appointment type until we reach satisfaction or if satisfaction is elusive, we consider alternative suitable options.
If you are satisfied with your initial outcome, you progress to the long term enjoyment phase. See below.
If you are not satisfied with your outcome you have two options available to you:
This phase is all about maintaining your optimal enjoyment of your hearing solution for the next three (3) to six (6) years. Most hearing aids last at least 5 years, but some people like upgrading their hearing aids every time there is a significant improvement in technology. This kind of improvement happens around every three (3) years.
This phase is slightly different for everyone. As a result, Value Hearing has decided to develop a system, where you can choose your own journey. Some people may prefer to see us when they need to and simply pay for each visit as it occurs. Others may choose to purchase unlimited visits and make use of every recall. Others may choose something in between. You are in control.
In this phase, regular hearing aid maintenance is important. Hearing aids are worn in very harsh conditions for up to thousands of hours a year. This means that they need a little bit of TLC every now and again.
Unfortunately, not many hearing care providers follow such a clear journey. Make sure you choose a provider that is able to support you, no matter where you are in Your Journey.
You may download a high quality copy of our client journey cheat sheet, shown below.
