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Overcoming barriers to hearing rehabilitation in adults

Program: 
R4
Project area: 
R4.1: Overcoming barriers to rehabilitation and prevention
Project-ID: 
R4.1.1
Project Status: 
Ongoing

Background

The research evidence is clear that current approaches for older people with hearing impairment are not working for the majority:

  • Only 15-23% of older persons with hearing impairment actually seek hearing aid fitting.
  • Of those persons who do accept hearing aid fitting, some have a successful outcome, but there are others who do not. 

Prior research has sought to identify what factors (e.g. degree of hearing loss, motivation, attitude) influence older people seeking help for their hearing impairment and/or the outcome of hearing aid fitting for older people.  However, the investigation of personal client-related factors has not been comprehensive, and the impact of environmental factors (e.g. the person’s acoustic environment) has not been examined.

Detail

The aims of this research project are to determine personal and environmental factors that facilitate or otherwise prevent:

  • adults with hearing impairment from seeking hearing rehabilitation (e.g. hearing aids)
  • adults with hearing impairment who attend audiology clinics from taking up hearing rehabilitation
  • adults with hearing impairment who take up hearing rehabilitation from achieving good outcomes. 

Quantitative and qualitative assessment measures will be used. 

This project represents an essential and fundamentally important first step in improving rehabilitation for this rapidly growing population.  By understanding ‘What makes the difference?’ practical information will be available to audiologists, ENT specialists, GPs, and other health professionals who work with older people about personal and environmental factors that are key to successful rehabilitation.

Project leadership

[title]
Prof Louise Hickson
 

Project Team

Carly Meyer, Karen Lovelock, David Hartley, Megan Gilliver, Emma van Wanrooy, Michelle Lampert, Asad Khan, Harvey Dillon, Gitte Keidser, Scott Brewer, Paul Mitchell, Andrea Caposecco, Caitlin Barr

 

Organisations involved

Australian Hearing Services
Macquarie University
The University of Queensland
The University of Sydney
Victorian Deaf Society

Publications from this Project

Title Authors Year of Publicationsort icon
Impact of hearing handicap, general health, and other significant life events on help seeking for hearing impairment Meyer, C, Hickson L, Lovelock K, Khan A, Lampert M, Van Wanrooy E, Gilliver M, et al 2010
Impact of psychological factors on help seeking for hearing impairment Lovelock, K, Hickson L, Meyer C, Khan A, Lampert M, Van Wanrooy E, Gilliver M, et al 2010
Development of an Australian version of the Acceptable Noise Level (ANL) test; Preliminary results from the Blue Mountains Hearing Study Hartley, D, Van Wanrooy E, Hickson L, Mitchell P 2010
What actions do older people take after failing a telephone-based hearing screen? Meyer, C, Hickson L, Hartley D, Khan A 2009
Music Perception of Cochlear Implant Users Compared with that of Hearing Aid Users Looi, V, McDermott HJ, McKay C, Hickson L 2008
The effect of cochlear implantation on music perception by adults with usable pre-operative acoustic hearing Looi, V, McDermott HJ, McKay C, Hickson L 2008