Abstract
BackgroundHearing loss in adults is one of the leading disabilities globally. It is managed through aural rehabilitation for which there is a paucity of literature in South Africa. This raises the question of interest, the integrity of holistic service provision amongst audiologists and whether interest and challenges affect current practices.ObjectivesTo describe audiologists’ practices and views on aural rehabilitation services for adults, including interest and challenges experienced.MethodA descriptive online survey was completed by 45 of 1440 invited practicing audiologists who were members of the two national professional associations in South Africa. Each association emailed the questionnaire link to all its members. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 21, and included the paired samples t-test and chi-squared tests.ResultsThe most provided services were hearing aids (81.4%), communication strategies training (69.8%) and informational counselling (79.8%). A strong interest was reported by most for each service. Challenges included limited client compliance, unaffordability of services, limited undergraduate training, language barriers, unrealistic expectations and individual differences. Statistically significant differences between service provision, interest and challenges indicated that these are influential but not individually significant to service provision.ConclusionImbalanced service provision, high interest and many more challenges are experienced. These factors contribute but are not solely markedly influential in service provision.
Highlights
BackgroundHearing loss in adults is one of the most common disabilities globally (World Health Organization [WHO], 2011), especially in countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Adoga, Nimkur & Silas, 2010)
Communication strategies training and informational counselling were provided by more participants in comparison with other aural rehabilitation services (Figure 2)
The reason for most audiologists not obtaining such training is to be investigated further. Another South African study (Naidoo, 2006) that investigated audiology service provision in the country indicated that 91.67% of audiologists reported not providing cochlear implant services since nearly a decade ago
Summary
Hearing loss in adults is one of the most common disabilities globally (World Health Organization [WHO], 2011), especially in countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Adoga, Nimkur & Silas, 2010). Adult South Africans are exposed to many possible causes of hearing loss such as excessive noise, ototoxic medication and diseases such as HIVAIDs that lead to hair cell damage (Khoza & Ross, 2002) These adults are at risk of experiencing hearing-related communication difficulties such as poor speech discrimination and reduced access to environmental sounds (Heine & Browning, 2002), emotional withdrawal (Pronk et al, 2011) and poor quality of life (Joore, Potjewijd, Timmerman & Anteunis, 2002). This raises the question of interest, the integrity of holistic service provision amongst audiologists and whether interest and challenges affect current practices
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