According to the Ministry of Health, in France, one in three people over the age of 50 has hearing difficulties, and even one in two after 80. A disability that is more present when you get older and which can be the source of isolation for the senior who suffers it. To remedy this, it is possible to use hearing aids. It is a paramedical professional, the audioprosthetist, who, after having assessed the hearing abilities of his patient, designs a hearing aid that is made to measure and best suited to the person.
An audioprosthetist is above all a paramedical professional (in the same way as nurses or physiotherapists for example) who has the skills to choose, adapt and design a hearing aid according to the hearing characteristics of his patient. Given his diploma (a state diploma issued after three years of training after the baccalaureate) and his experience, the audioprosthetist is the only one authorized to define precisely what are the solutions to be provided in terms of hearing aids, in particular for seniors who experience problems with age to hear properly.
Once the hearing aid best suited to the patient has been designed, the audioprosthetist adjusts it and performs tests to find out if it is the most appropriate to allow the person to regain normal hearing.
To use an audioprosthetist, you must first consult an otolaryngologist (ENT), a doctor specializing in hearing problems, the only one who can ensure the prescription of hearing aids.
It is advisable to go to such a specialist as soon as the first signs, even weak, of hearing loss are felt, especially since the older the discomfort linked to the hearing loss, the more it will be difficult to correct.
Once the ENT prescription is in hand, the senior who needs to have hearing aids fitted approaches an audioprosthetist to have them fitted. This paramedical professional specializing in hearing has the role of assessing the patient's situation, in particular by having him do a prosthetic audio assessment. An audioprosthetist can practice his profession in a private practice or in a hospital setting.
Beyond his role as a real technician in the development of hearing aids, the audioprosthetist ensures a real follow-up of his patients as much to ensure that they get used to wearing these hearing aids, as for the follow from a psychological point of view. Indeed, for a senior who is hearing aids, especially for the first time, it is not always easy to accept, on the one hand, having to be helped in order to be able to hear properly, and, on the other hand, having to wear prostheses. auditory requires relearning to listen and analyze sounds using prostheses in order to return to perfect hearing.
Even if the devices to remedy hearing loss have been the subject of very appreciable innovations in recent years (hearing aids are more ergonomic, more discreet, with even more performance), being diagnosed with the wearing of such prostheses is not always easy to assume especially by the youngest seniors.
This is why an audioprosthetist monitors his patients throughout the lifespan of the hearing aids he has designed and fitted, i.e. approximately 5 years, a period during which he may also have to replace them. adapt. Many visits, which are free as part of a follow-up, are therefore necessary for the patient to obtain maximum comfort and efficiency from their hearing aids.
On the other hand, an audioprosthetist is also authorized to provide advice, particularly in terms of prevention and risks concerning hearing loss.
