The Ida Institute announced its collaboration with the Mayo Clinic to launch Mayo Clinic Connect for Hearing Loss, an online community where patients with hearing loss and their families share experiences, exchange information, and find support from people like themselves. Ida Institute and the Mayo Clinic, together with the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), held a focus group of people with hearing loss and their communication partners to launch the new group. Participants in the focus group are founding members of the Mayo Clinic Connect Hearing Loss group and will initiate discussions relevant and meaningful for them.
“Peer-to-peer support is a natural extension of person-centered care,” said Ida Managing Director Lise Lotte Bundesen. “We are proud to work with Mayo Clinic and HLAA on this online group that gives people with hearing loss a new avenue to connect with each other as well as with hearing care professionals.”
The new Mayo Clinic Connect for Hearing Loss group, like all Mayo Clinic Connect groups, is managed by a team of community moderators, who keep the community safe and welcoming, and support a volunteer group of patient mentors who assist in monitoring the community, connecting new members, and maintaining active discussions.
“The experience of hearing loss is so diverse. Overcoming barriers of geography, people connect online with others like them, build circles of trust, and dissolve isolation,” said Colleen Young, community director of Mayo Clinic Connect.
Mayo Clinic Connect is also a place to get trustworthy information from Mayo Clinic experts. Mayo Clinic providers offer insight and information and respond to community questions through a variety of activities, such as video Q&A sessions and newsfeed posts on Connect Pages.
“The Hearing Loss Association of America is proud to be part of this initiative with the Mayo Clinic and the Ida Institute to offer people with hearing loss a dedicated resource where they can share experiences, gain new information, and get the support they need,” said HLAA Executive Director Barbara Kelley. “Connecting with others like themselves is a powerful mechanism to living well with hearing loss.”
Whether people with hearing loss and their communication partners are looking for facts about hearing loss, advice and emotional support from mentors and community members, or to share tips and tricks around difficult communication situations, Mayo Clinic Connect members aim to share credible, trustworthy information that supports self-management and advocacy.
Collaboration with hearing care professionals and leading organizations in hearing healthcare, like the Mayo Clinic and HLAA, is at the core of the Ida Institute’s mission. The nonprofit institute works with hearing care professionals worldwide to develop knowledge and tools to strengthen the counseling process, enabling people to express their individual needs and preferences and take ownership of their hearing care.
Read more at idainstitute.com or subscribe to the Ida Institute’s Weekly News for regular news updates from Ida Institute. You can also follow the Ida Institute on Twitter at @idainstitute, facebook.com/idainstitute, or linkedin.com/company/ida-institute.
Source: Ida Institute
Image: Ida Institute
