New research: Attitudes and confidence with hearing aids

Posted on: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 by Hannah Moysey

Nikkita Patel is studying to become an Audiologist at University College London. She is doing some research into the attitudes and stigmas associated with wearing a hearing aid and the result that this can ultimately have on audiological rehabilitation.

Research suggests that older people are less likely to feel that their well-being is adversely affected by hearing loss than younger people. This may be because younger people feel there is more of a stigma in wearing a hearing aid, whereas for older people, the use of hearing aids are more common.

However, there is contradicting research to suggest that there is a perceived stigma around hearing aid use for all age groups including for people of retirement age.

In addition to this, it is known that lack of confidence with hearing aids (for example changing batteries, insertion of the earmould) can be a barrier to hearing aid use. It is generally felt that this is more of a barrier for older users rather than younger users.

Nikita is aiming to investigate if there is a difference in attitude towards hearing aids and a difference in confidence between younger and older hearing aid users.

The research is important because:

Stigma attached to hearing loss can often be seen as a barrier to Audiological rehabilitation.
As clinicians, we want hearing aid users to minimize their stigma and negative thoughts associated with hearing aids.
It is important to increase awareness of the importance of communication and hearing aid use.

Interested in taking part in this research?

Are you a current hearing aid user aged 18 or above?
Are you self- conscious about wearing your hearing aids or do you forget about them once you put them on?
Are your hearing aids hidden away in the drawer or do they shine bright on your ears?

Whatever your thoughts, why not take 5 minutes to participate in a short online or postal survey.

The survey is completely anonymous and your participation will be assisting a BSc Audiology student with her final year project. The closing date for the survey is Friday 25 January 2013.

Thank you for your interest in this survey. Unfortunately this has now closed. We hope to update you on Nikkita's progress in her research soon.

For more details

For more information on the project, please contact Nikita Patel (University College London) or Lucy Handscomb (project supervisor) on project4ucl@gmail.com or by post at UCL Ear Institute, 332 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8EE.

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janet foreman
08/01/2013 14:56

lets hope one day the people who make our hearing aids will be able to design smaller aids and earmoulds to fit different ear sizes ,as men and women do not have same size ears .
karen bowler
08/01/2013 17:20

I believe all audiologists should spend some time wearing something that approximates hearing loss so they can understand what if is like to hear loads of noise but be unable to make out what people are saying. I think they should also spend a 6 weeks wearing hearing aids turned up so loud that they feedback everytime someone speaks and th speakers distort - ideally with a rough edge that gives them sores. This is what happened to me and I'm not the only one, and I really wish healthcare professionals would be a bit more professional - remember - it could be you one day.
rm
14/01/2013 14:28

I only saw this survey link by accident - for me on my browser this interesting entry is 'lost' on AOHL home page - a page scroll down and small print in the right hand corner.

It might help to have less repeated links on the web page - and more focussed navigation / threads
Hard of hearing
27/01/2013 06:47

There does still seem to be a stigma attached with wearing hearing aids, yet surely this is much better than missing out on conversations. I have found people who have grown up wearing one from a young age are much more confident with them, than people who need them later on in life. When you are told you need to wear a hearing aid now, it comes with a certain amount of fear for many people of something new.
http://www.121captions.com
Barrie Wickens
12/02/2013 15:12

Be careful what you wish for. A major problem for people with hearing loss is that it is not a particularly visible impairment,unlike say, a visually impaired person using a white stick. So if you make hearing sids any smaller even less people will be aware, and less people will be tolerant with us when we converse. Unless we make others aware of our hearing loss we will continue to struggle to hear and understand them.