BackgroundHearing loss is one of the most common chronic conditions in older adults. In audiology literature, several studies have examined the attitudes and behavior of people with hearing loss; however, not much is known about the manner in which society in general views and perceives hearing loss. This exploratory study was aimed at understanding the social representation of hearing loss (among the general public) in the countries of India, Iran, Portugal, and the UK. We also compared these social representations.Materials and methodsThe study involved a cross-sectional design, and participants were recruited using the snowball sampling method. A total of 404 people from four countries participated in the study. Data were collected using a free-association task where participants were asked to produce up to five words or phrases that came to mind while thinking about hearing loss. In addition, they were also asked to indicate if each word they presented had positive, neutral, or negative associations in their view. Data were analyzed using various qualitative and quantitative methods.ResultsThe most frequently occurring categories were: assessment and management; causes of hearing loss; communication difficulties; disability; hearing ability or disability; hearing instruments; negative mental state; the attitudes of others; and sound and acoustics of the environment. Some categories were reported with similar frequency in most countries (eg, causes of hearing loss, communication difficulties, and negative mental state), whereas others differed among countries. Participants in India reported significantly more positive and fewer negative associations when compared to participants from Iran, Portugal, and the UK. However, there was no statistical difference among neutral responses reported among these countries. Also, more differences were noted among these countries than similarities.ConclusionThese findings provide useful insights into the public perception of hearing loss that may prove useful in public education and counseling.

BackgroundThe current study was aimed at understanding the social representation of hearing aids in India, Iran, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. We also compared these results to explore the cross-cultural differences and similarities among these countries.MethodsThe study involved a cross-sectional design, and the data were collected from four different countries using the snowball sampling method. Data were analyzed using a content analysis to identify the most-similar categories of responses reported, a co-occurrences analysis to see which of these categories are reported commonly, and a chi-square analysis to study if there was any association between positive, neutral, and negative connotations among participants in different countries.ResultsThe current study revealed four different social representations of hearing aids from India, Iran, Portugal, and the United Kingdom, and also a global index.ConclusionThe study results provide very useful insights into how hearing aids are represented in the society. These findings may have important implications for public education and also for manufacturers from the viewpoint of designing and marketing hearing aids in different countries.

There is an aspiration and policy within the European Union to fully involve persons with disabilities in the community; this implies an opportunity to gainful employment. A large percentage of disabled persons remain unemployed despite this policy, especially persons with mental health problems. This study aims at investigating how people with mental health problems and caseworkers in different agencies experience the vocational rehabilitation process from an interagency collaboration perspective. The study reveals a number of hindering factors portrayed and discussed in six themes -the time available for rehabilitation, management, new ways of working, absence of an actor, continuity and consensus -and also tables the implications for interagency collaboration in the field of vocational rehabilitation. Points of interestWork is an important part of people's lives. Through work, opportunities for social contact, affection and self-fulfilment are promoted. There is, within the European Union, a pronounced aspiration and policy that persons with disabilities should be fully involved in the community, which includes opportunities to gainful employment. Despite this policy, a very large amount of these people remain unemployed. This study aims at investigating how people with mental health problems and workers in different agencies experience the vocational rehabilitation process from an interagency collaboration perspective. The study reveals a number of hindering factors portrayed in six themes: the time available for rehabilitation, management, new ways of working, absence of an actor, continuity and consensus. Based on the results the researchers emphasize those activities in vocational rehabilitation that they believe would significantly enhance both the integrated collaboration as well as the rehabilitation process for the individual.

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As people with disabilities often face difficulties entering the labour market, entrepreneurship and self-employment are often regarded as an opportunity to gain employment and earn a living. This article presents a scoping review that aims to investigate what establishment motives previous studies have identified for self-employment and entrepreneurship among people with disabilities. Four themes emerged: economic motives; flexibility and self-determination; avoiding discrimination; and personal development and being able to contribute something. In the article we discuss the results and relate them to the general discourse on entrepreneurship, which often includes the concept of autonomy. We argue that the findings suggest implications for how to develop support and strategies for this group, to help them avoid ending up in an even more vulnerable position. In this work, the individual's own motives for establishment are of great value. Points of interest• People with disabilities often find it difficult to find paid work. One way to earn an income is to start their own business. • This article summarizes the findings of 16 research articles and one book chapter on why people with disabilities start their own business. • The findings from earlier studies show that people with disabilities have different motives for starting their own business, such as economic reasons; to be independent and be able to decide their working patterns; to avoid being discriminated; for personal development; and to be able to contribute positively to the lives of others. • To be able to provide appropriate support, different stakeholders, such as politicians and professionals, need to know why people with disabilities start their own businesses.

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Objective: The present study was aimed to explore perceptions of and reactions to music in young adults (18-25 years) using the theory of social representations (TSR). Design: The study used a cross-sectional survey design and included participants from India, Iran, Portugal, United States, and United Kingdom. Data were analyzed using various qualitative and quantitative methods. Study sample: The study sample included 534 young adults. Results:The Chi-square analysis showed significant differences between the countries regarding the informants' perception of music. The most positive connotations about music were found in the responses obtained from Iranian participants (82.2%), followed by Portuguese participants (80.6%), while the most negative connotations about music were found in the responses obtained from Indian participants (18.2%), followed by Iranian participants (7.3%). The participants' responses fell into 19 main categories based on their meaning; however, not all categories were found in all five countries. The co-occurrence analysis results generally indicate that the category "positive emotions or actions" was the most frequent category occurring in all five countries. Conclusions: The results indicate that music is generally considered to bring positive emotions for people within these societies, although a small percentage of responses indicate some negative consequences of music.

This study aims to understand patterns in the social representation of hearing loss reported by adults across different countries and explore the impact of different demographic factors on response patterns. The study used a cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected using a free association task and analysed using qualitative content analysis, cluster analysis and chi-square analysis. The study sample included 404 adults (18 years and over) in the general population from four countries (India, Iran, Portugal and UK). The cluster analysis included 380 responses out of 404 (94.06%) and resulted in five clusters. The clusters were named: (1) individual aspects; (2) aetiology; (3) the surrounding society; (4) limitations and (5) exposed. Various demographic factors (age, occupation type, education and country) showed an association with different clusters, although country of origin seemed to be associated with most clusters. The study results suggest that how hearing loss is represented in adults in general population varies and is mainly related to country of origin. These findings strengthen the argument about cross-cultural differences in perception of hearing loss, which calls for a need to make necessary accommodations while developing public health strategies about hearing loss.