Commitment To Tinnitus Treatment
Widex have recently introduced the Zen Therapy Protocols. Widex Zen Therapy is a unique tinnitus management system. The method includes up to four different components that can be combined, depending on the needs of the individual tinnitus sufferer.
Widex has put a lot of thought into the protocol and is supplying a lot of resources that are needed to undertake the system. They have outlined strategy, processes and procedures for using the system in your Practice in an in depth manual.
The tinnitus treatment plan
After a thorough intake process (see the WZT manual) you can make an individual treatment plan that combines one or more of the core components of Widex Zen Therapy: counselling, stress reduction, sound stimulation and amplification.
Instructions for how to use the components can be found in the WZT manual. See also a short description:
- Counselling
Reassurance and instructional counselling
Adjustment based counselling
Cognitive Behavioural Intervention- Amplification
- Sound stimulation
Zen tones and Zen noise- Relaxation
Relaxation exercises. Progressive muscle exercises, breathing exercise, guided imagery and sleep strategies.
From the Widex Website
But why would you introduce Zen Therapy Protocol to your Practice?
That is the question most people would consider, Tinnitus Therapy is often viewed with fear within private Practice. Lately though it seems to be on every ones lips, without being flippant, it seems to be the flavour of the month.
Widex, with the Zen feature, has been heavily involved with the field for many years. They have committed a lot of resources and time to designing a combined and comprehensive approach to Tinnitus Therapy that includes the use of Zen. In essence they have made it easy to deploy Tinnitus Therapy in your Practice.
The motivation to do so could include the following:
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Tinnitus Therapy will bring differentiation and added value to a business.
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Between 1.5 to 2% of your local population have treatable tinnitus.
In the UK last year there were 750,000 G.P. consultations pertaining to tinnitus. -
Expanding your scope of Practice
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It may deliver more Customers
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It may deliver increased Revenue
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It will lead to new referral Partners
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Job Satisfaction
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Why Not?
Tinnitus Therapy can be a facet of your Practice, it can expand your professional offering while driving new Patient acquirement. It is not something that you will do lightly and it will involve real training. But the returns can and should be worth it. The Widex Zen Therapy Protocols have made the service slightly easier to offer.
Regards
Geoff
Geoffrey,
I couldn’t agree more! Well said. I often ask the question as well, “Why not” work with those having tinnitus. I do believe it adds special value to the practice and a specialty area that is lacking in the health care community. I often hear from so many medical professionals that there is nothing can be done for ringing in the ears other than the usual medications to be prescribed. This is a consistent response from many ENT docs as well. For those in the ENT field that do treat those with tinnitus as well as having staff audiologists well trained and ready to care for these patients, I don’t mean you. There is a chief majority that do not place any emphasis in their practice, medically and audiological, with specialty in tinnitus. I have found profound successes in using the Zen for patients having tinnitus and agree wholeheartedly in the comprehensive research position and help to professionals that Widex have devoted. Well done!!
I am happy to find a so well combained protocol as the WZT and I have already started to use it in my practice. As we know working with tinnitus patients is not easy and you have to like it. Should there be one WZT Specialist in a practice or should all the Audiologist have a trainning to be a WZT Specialist and be able to treat Level 3, 4 and 5?
I think that is a great question, I think each Practitioner finds their own level of expertise. Each Practitioner knows the capabilities of themselves and their team. So I think that naturally referral networks will begin to grow. Whereby level 3,4 and 5s may well be referred on to different people.
I think that when you are dealing with Tinnitus sufferers of that severity, commercial competitiveness goes out the window. So it may well be that there are several people in an area using WZT to treat different needs and referring between each other.
Thank you for your answer. I agree as you say ” commercial competitiveness goes out the window ” when you are treating sever tinnitus patients , you need something more.
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