ISO has recently issued ISO 21388, the first international standard for hearing aid fitting management. ISO 21388 provides a general framework for hearing aid fitting management, including the pre- and post-fitting stages, designed to make the fitting management more explicit and transparent. The aim is to achieve the best possible hearing rehabilitation through adequate knowledge, training, skills and a systematic approach to hearing aid fitting in close collaboration with the client.

Person centered principles

The new standard recommends that “person-centered principles and strategies for effective information sharing should be applied.”

Søren Nielsen, President of the European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (EHIMA), said about the new standard: “Even in times of high-tech medicine, any sustainably successful treatment relies on a set of traditional values, such as the respect towards and the involvement of the patient. International comparative studies on the success of hearing care treatment prove that the more a patient is actively involved and has a say in the fitting process, he or she tends to be more satisfied with the result: Acceptance of his or her hearing aids is higher, they are worn more hours throughout the day – overall, the patient experiences a higher quality of life. EHIMA therefore welcomes that person-centered principles are at the very core of the new ISO standard.”