| |
Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
 | |
|
Hearing loss and dementia
— an exploratory study of the views of audiologists | | Author(s) | Nicola Wright, Theodore Stickley, Imran Mulla |
| Journal title | Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, vol 15 no 4, 2014 |
| Publisher | Emerald, 2014 |
| Pages | pp 220-231 |
| Source | www.emeraldinsight.com/qaoa.htm |
| Keywords | Hearing Impairment ; Dementia ; Attitude ; Audiology services ; Qualitative Studies. |
| Annotation | An online survey was distributed to audiologists working in the UK NHS and private sector via their professional organisations in order to explore their views and experiences of working with older adults with dementia. 312 audiologists took part in the survey, which collected both quantitative and qualitative data. Basic descriptive statistics summarised the quantitative responses. The qualitative data were analysed using conventional thematic approaches. The quantitative data demonstrated that the vast majority of audiologists (96%) had treated someone with dementia. Despite this, 65% of respondents did not feel adequately supported to help this service user population. Four overarching themes were used to explain the qualitative data: integrated and individualised care; formal (including training) vs experiential knowledge; the interaction between dementia and hearing; and using the technology. Given the anticipated increase in rates of dementia within the population and the potential for hearing impairment to exacerbate the symptoms, this study highlights the unique role audiologists have. The need for more training and development for this professional group is also identified. The self-selecting nature of the sample is a limitation which needs to be taken into account when considering the transferability and implications of the findings. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-170526211 A |
| Classmark | BV: EA: DP: LA: 3DP |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
|
| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
| |
|