University of Canterbury Home
    • Admin
    UC Research Repository
    UC Library
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    1. UC Home
    2. Library
    3. UC Research Repository
    4. Faculty of Science | Te Kaupeka Pūtaiao
    5. Science: Theses and Dissertations
    6. View Item
    1. UC Home
    2.  > 
    3. Library
    4.  > 
    5. UC Research Repository
    6.  > 
    7. Faculty of Science | Te Kaupeka Pūtaiao
    8.  > 
    9. Science: Theses and Dissertations
    10.  > 
    11. View Item

    Reactions and Responses to the Diagnosis of a Progressive Hearing Loss in Adults (2009)

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    thesis_fulltext.pdf (1.768Mb)
    Type of Content
    Theses / Dissertations
    UC Permalink
    http://hdl.handle.net/10092/3614
    http://dx.doi.org/10.26021/8688
    
    Thesis Discipline
    Audiology
    Degree Name
    Masters of Audiology
    Publisher
    University of Canterbury. Communication Disorders
    Collections
    • Science: Theses and Dissertations [4486]
    Authors
    Light, Katrina Jane
    show all
    Abstract

    Being given the diagnosis of a disability generally affects an individual's emotional state, however, this has not previously been investigated with respect to audiology and the diagnosis of hearing loss. The first aim of this study was to describe some of the common initial reactions to the diagnosis of hearing loss (HL). An awareness of these emotional reactions will aid audiologists in counselling their patients. Counselling occurs at the time of the diagnosis and throughout the aural rehabilitation process. However, counselling tuition is currently not provided for audiology students at New Zealand universities and there are few professional development courses for practicing audiologists. The second aim of this study was to evaluate current audiological counselling services and ascertain the impact on patients' decisions to get hearing aids (HAs). To accomplish these aims, 27 adults who had been newly-diagnosed with a HL completed an initial reaction questionnaire, partook in an interview which followed up on the questionnaire, and subsequently completed a second questionnaire at least three weeks later. There were two versions of the second questionnaire, depending on whether they had chosen to have HA(s) fitted. The results found that the common emotions reported were a sense of loss, sadness and resignation, as well as relief. Furthermore, an individual's level of optimism tended to decrease in response to the hearing test result. The ratings of the audiological counselling services were positive and seemed not to significantly influence the individual with respect to their decision to purchase HAs. The two areas of audiological counselling which could be improved related to how the audiologist explained the HL, particularly in relation to the individual's life, and also the provision of information to patients prior to the fitting of the HA. In addition to the data that was collected in relation to these aims, information was collected with respect to patients' perceptions of their HL prior to the hearing test, their interpretation of the hearing test results, and also how the patient's significant other responded to the diagnosis. The information from this study will be useful for equipping audiologists, both new graduates and those with more experience, to provide optimal audiological care for their patients.

    Keywords
    hearing loss; emotional reaction; emotional response; adults; hearing test; hearing aids
    Rights
    Copyright Katrina Jane Light
    https://canterbury.libguides.com/rights/theses

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Speech Understanding Abilities of Older Adults with Sensorineural Hearing Loss 

      Wilding, Phillipa Jane (University of Canterbury. Department of Communication Disorders, 2010)
      Older adults with sensorineural hearing loss have greater difficulty understanding speech than younger adults with equivalent hearing (Gates & Mills, 2005). This increased difficulty may be related to the influence of ...
    • Early postoperative delayed hearing loss: Patterns of behavioural and electrophysiological auditory responses following vestibular schwannoma surgery 

      Babbage, Melissa Jane (University of Canterbury. Communication Disorders, 2009)
      Following vestibular schwannoma excision, a subset of cases has been reported in which hearing is present immediately after surgery, but is lost in the early postoperative period. Such cases have rarely been reported, and ...
    • Are adults with hearing loss also at risk of attention and memory challenges, and can hearing loss intervention improve these cognitive areas? 

      Batchelor, Karyn (University of Canterbury, 2016)
      Background: This study investigated the relationship between hearing loss and cognitive decline, and the use of hearing aids as a possible method to potentially combat cognitive aging in a New Zealand cohort. The aims of ...
    Advanced Search

    Browse

    All of the RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThesis DisciplineThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThesis Discipline

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics
    • SUBMISSIONS
    • Research Outputs
    • UC Theses
    • CONTACTS
    • Send Feedback
    • +64 3 369 3853
    • ucresearchrepository@canterbury.ac.nz
    • ABOUT
    • UC Research Repository Guide
    • Copyright and Disclaimer
    • SUBMISSIONS
    • Research Outputs
    • UC Theses
    • CONTACTS
    • Send Feedback
    • +64 3 369 3853
    • ucresearchrepository@canterbury.ac.nz
    • ABOUT
    • UC Research Repository Guide
    • Copyright and Disclaimer