Counseling our aging population: A training program for pharmacy students on hearing loss

Hearing loss affects approximately one-third of adults age 61-70 and >80% of those older than 85 years. This can impede the ability to hear medication administration instructions, leading to poor adherence and unnecessary disease progression and complications. The study purpose was to educate students on hearing loss and identify program impact.

An online program for advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) students was developed to train students how to counsel patients with hearing loss to improve medication understanding and adherence. The purpose of the training program was to provide background on hearing loss, increase understanding of the impact hearing loss, and to prepare students to counsel this population. A link from SurveyMonkey was provided upon training program completion.

Ninety-two students completed the survey. Prior to training, < 20% (18.5%) were comfortable interacting with patients with hearing impairment, despite ∼50% of these students completing more than three APPEs with direct patient care. The majority (88%) recognized that hearing loss contributes to poor medication adherence. More than 80% believed that the training program improved their understanding of the psychological consequences of hearing loss and ability to counsel patients with hearing loss. Over 70% agreed that the training program made them feel more prepared to counsel patients with hearing loss.

It is crucial to prepare students to better understand this population in order to meet their needs. This program enhanced students' knowledge of hearing loss and increased their understanding of communication barriers.