Ida Visiting Scholar Nerina Scarinci attended the British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists (BSHAA) Congress in Telford, UK. She presented research findings on behalf of the HEARing Cooperative Research Centre and teams from the University of Queensland and the University of Melbourne, including Professor Louise Hickson, Dr Nerina Scarinci, Dr Carly Meyer, Dr Katie Ekberg, and Dr Caitlin Grenness. The theme of the congress was making connections, and Nerina’s presentation focused on connecting with clients and family members in audiological rehabilitation.
The potential impact of hearing loss on family members shows how important family members are in the rehabilitation process, with family members often presenting rehabilitation needs of their own. The Australian team’s research, however, shows that there is sometimes a mismatch between audiologist, client, and family member preferences for client- and family-centered care and current clinical practice. Data obtained from interviews with adults with hearing impairment have shown that developing a therapeutic relationship with clients and ensuring patients are informed and involved and treated as individuals are key aspects of the entire rehabilitation process.
A unique aspect of their work is that they were able to analyze the interactions between audiologists, clients, and family members during appointments. They found that although audiologists did not typically invite family members to join the conversation, family members joined in on their own terms by answering questions directed at the client, adding to comments made by the client, and asking questions of their own. Interestingly, they found that in instances where the family member did join the conversation, audiologists typically responded by directing the conversation back to the client.
Additional data from interviews with audiologists, clients, and family members also showed that although family involvement in hearing rehabilitation is currently limited, each would value greater involvement of family members in order to develop a shared understanding and responsibility for managing hearing difficulties.
The adoption of a family centered care approach has the potential to improve outcomes for adults with hearing impairment and address the individual needs of family members. Nerina discussed in the presentation some Ida tools which can be used to do this, including the GPS and Communication Rings, which would allow the entire family to be acknowledged as the client.