Family member involvement in audiology appointments with older people with hearing impairment

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate family members’ involvement in audiology rehabilitation appointments. Design: Audiology appointments were video-recorded and analysed using quantitative coding and conversation analysis (CA). Study sample: The study sample included 13 audiologists, 17 older adults with hearing impairment, and 17 family members. Results: Initial coding showed that family members participated in 12% of the total talk time during audiology appointments. The CA results demonstrated that family members were not typically invited to join the conversation. However, family members would self-select to speak by: (1) responding to questions from the audiologist which were directed at the client; (2) self-initiating expansions on clients’ turns; and (3) self-initiating questions. When family members did participate in the interaction, audiologists typically responded by shifting the conversation back to the client. Conclusion: While family members currently have minimal participation in audiology appointments, they display a strong interest in being involved and sharing their experiences of the client's hearing impairment. The findings suggest support for implementing family-centred care principles in audiology practice.

Key Words::

• Hearing impairment
• family members
• family-centred care
• third-party disability
• conversation analysis
• hearing rehabilitation
• audiology

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, established under the Cooperative Research Centres Program - an Australian Government Initiative.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest.