The performance of the Christchurch Hearing Aid Clinic was investigated by examining the levels of hearing aid use, satisfaction, performance and aid-specific knowledge of 169 people issued with their first hearing aid from the Clinic between 1986 and 1990.

Analysis revealed a need for a more comprehensive rehabilitation service. Time constraints placed on the Clinic meant that using an external agency was a logical choice as the provider of this rehabilitation. As a result, a combined rehabilitation programme using the existing services offered by the Hearing Aid Clinic and three additional rehabilitation session run by the Hearing Association was implemented.

The benefits of the additional rehabilitation were illustrated by the significantly greater level of hearing aid use of the 27 rehabilitated subjects compared with 37 control subjects who received their aid in the normal fashion from the Clinic. Other criterion measures used to evaluate the two delivery systems, including the changes in hearing handicap and the level of aid specific knowledge and manipulation abilities, along with satisfaction ratings and ratings of aid performance, did not show any significant difference between the two groups. However, due to experimenter effects, the possibility exists that the control groups' performance was elevated above what is normal for subjects receiving an aid from the Clinic. Discrepancies between the control group and survey population, neither of which received additional rehabilitation, support this view.

It was concluded that formal arrangement needs to be established between the Hearing Aid Clinic and the Hearing Association so that people in need of help in adjusting to their newly acquired aid receive the best possible chance of obtaining optimum use and satisfaction.