The ability to hear is always important but perhaps takes on added importance in those last days of life. As audiologists, we are often asked to help our patients hear better during those last days by assuring that their hearing aids are adequate and functional, as well as we are sometimes asked to provide personal listening devices.
There is the suggestion that hearing is the last sense to go before death and there is growing evidence of this possibility. In the article “Signs of Death” written by William Lamers M.D. for the Hospice Foundation of America he states that, “Caregivers, family, and physicians should always act as if the dying person is aware of what is going on and is able to hear and understand voices. In fact, hearing is one of the last senses to lapse before death.”
“The Institute of Medicine (IOM) released Dying in America, a major consensus report on improving the quality and availability of services for people nearing the end of their lives. Core components of quality end-of-life care included:
- Frequent assessment of the patient's physical, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being.
- Management of emotional distress.
- Counseling of patient and family.
- Attention to the patient's social and cultural context and social needs.
- Attention to the patient's spiritual and religious needs.
These all require communication with the patient which is seriously affected by the reality that in North America one in three people over 65 are hearing impaired. “
References:
(bit.ly/IOM-Dying http://bit.ly/IOM-Dying)
doi: 10.1097/01.HJ.0000459739.71381.16
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