An Ida Motivation tool was used as part of a pilot study on community-delivered hearing care interventions.
Baltimore HEARS study particularly sought out the participation of low-income minority older adults, who statistically only have a 10% uptake of hearing devices, compared to the average 20%. The pilot group consisted of 15 people with hearing loss, each with an accompanying communication partner, who also received training. Community representatives were trained to support study participants in the use of their devices and communication strategies.
The study was conducted over a six-month period with adults with hearing loss aged 60+ to determine what impact a community-led intervention in training participants on how to use hearing devices. Ida’s Line was used as part of the study to measure hearing-related self-efficacy in participants. Self-efficacy is considered to be central to amplification. Other metrics investigated through different means included hearing history, technology use, and health literacy.
Feedback for the project was overwhelmingly positive, with 93% of participants saying they benefited from the program and 87% said that the program was the reason they were able to use their hearables well. All participants said they would recommend the program to others.
The study was authored by Carrie L. Nieman, Nicole Marrone, Sara K. Mamo, Joshua Betz, Janet S. Choi, Kevin J. Contrera, Roland J. Thorpe, Jr., Laura N. Gitlin, Elizabeth K. Tanner, Hae-Ra Han, Sarah L. Szanton, and Frank R. Lin. According to Dr. Lin’s website, the study laid the groundwork for the Access HEARS program. Learn more about Access HEARS ongoing work here.
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