The audiological rehabilitation of workers with hearing loss in the UK: a qualitative study of workers’ perspectives
The audiological rehabilitation of workers with hearing loss in the UK: a qualitative study of workers’ perspectives
Purpose: unaddressed hearing loss can adversely affect employment and day-to-day work-life. Efficient and effective audiology support can help optimise hearing in the workplace. This study explores the audiological rehabilitation experiences of workers with hearing loss (WHL).
Materials and methods: twenty-four WHL with experience of a wide range of audiology services across the UK participated in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were analysed using inductive thematic analysis.
Results: three main themes were generated: Theme 1: mixed experiences with audiology services (subdivided into two subthemes and four sub-subthemes). Theme 2: audiology role in work support (subdivided into three subthemes). Theme 3: “I think support could be improved if…” (subdivided into two subthemes).
Conclusion: the audiological rehabilitation for working-age adults with hearing loss needs improvements to deliver sufficient support and quality care. Some of the barriers to having better-functioning hearing healthcare require fundamental standards in healthcare quality, such as access to services, staff (including audiologists) deaf awareness, information and technology support, and personalised care that considers work-life needs. Further research is required to evaluate the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of improvements, such as support that extends beyond hearing aid care, whether from audiology or non-audiology services.
Hearing loss, audiology, disability, employees, employment, rehabilitation, workers with hearing loss
Zuriekat, Margaret
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Alqudah, Safa
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Semeraro, Hannah
35b3bdf0-49cf-41ea-a37f-50884b5b349f
Watson, Victoria
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Rowan, Daniel
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Kirby, Sarah
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Ferguson, Melanie
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Zuriekat, Margaret
b7881351-7a14-4370-96d2-f53d83633e86
Alqudah, Safa
b6a5e2cf-dfa3-47be-9b60-1bb70c0ea59f
Semeraro, Hannah
35b3bdf0-49cf-41ea-a37f-50884b5b349f
Watson, Victoria
457204f7-b9b5-40bd-82b0-febaf836ac68
Rowan, Daniel
dcd408e3-e5ad-4976-bfa4-27488821979f
Kirby, Sarah
9be57c1b-5ab7-4444-829e-d8e5dbe2370b
Ferguson, Melanie
9177730f-56c8-4411-b296-b3fb176e584f
Zuriekat, Margaret, Alqudah, Safa, Semeraro, Hannah, Watson, Victoria, Rowan, Daniel, Kirby, Sarah and Ferguson, Melanie
(2023)
The audiological rehabilitation of workers with hearing loss in the UK: a qualitative study of workers’ perspectives.
Disability and Rehabilitation.
(doi:10.1080/09638288.2023.2261375).
Abstract
Purpose: unaddressed hearing loss can adversely affect employment and day-to-day work-life. Efficient and effective audiology support can help optimise hearing in the workplace. This study explores the audiological rehabilitation experiences of workers with hearing loss (WHL).
Materials and methods: twenty-four WHL with experience of a wide range of audiology services across the UK participated in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were analysed using inductive thematic analysis.
Results: three main themes were generated: Theme 1: mixed experiences with audiology services (subdivided into two subthemes and four sub-subthemes). Theme 2: audiology role in work support (subdivided into three subthemes). Theme 3: “I think support could be improved if…” (subdivided into two subthemes).
Conclusion: the audiological rehabilitation for working-age adults with hearing loss needs improvements to deliver sufficient support and quality care. Some of the barriers to having better-functioning hearing healthcare require fundamental standards in healthcare quality, such as access to services, staff (including audiologists) deaf awareness, information and technology support, and personalised care that considers work-life needs. Further research is required to evaluate the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of improvements, such as support that extends beyond hearing aid care, whether from audiology or non-audiology services.
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The audiological rehabilitation of workers with hearing loss in the UK a qualitative study of workers perspectives
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Accepted/In Press date: 15 September 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 6 October 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
The authors thank and appreciate the research participants who shared their time and stories. The support of the University of Jordan for this research is sincerely acknowledged.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords:
Hearing loss, audiology, disability, employees, employment, rehabilitation, workers with hearing loss
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 484598
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/484598
ISSN: 0963-8288
PURE UUID: f17b9270-bee6-4335-9f3a-8eaef2917826
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Date deposited: 17 Nov 2023 17:59
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 02:57
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Contributors
Author:
Margaret Zuriekat
Author:
Safa Alqudah
Author:
Daniel Rowan
Author:
Melanie Ferguson
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