Coping with the social challenges and emotional distress associated with hearing loss: a qualitative investigation using Leventhal’s self-regulation theory

Abstract

Objective: To explore the lived experience of social challenges and emotional distress in relation to hearing loss and the coping mechanisms employed to manage them.Design: Two focus groups and two one-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted during February 2020. Transcripts were first inductively analysed to identify experiential that use of strategies that interfere with or inhibit effective communication (such as social avoidance) are associated with an increased risk of hearing aid rejection (Helvik et al., 2008).Previous research has documented the social consequences and emotional distress that accompanies hearing loss, and these include frustration, anxiety, social isolation and loneliness, among other manifestations of distress (

Perceived listening ability and hearing loss: Systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis

“…In 12 studies liminality (i.e., the threshold of conscious awareness) was suggested to constrain whether a listening-related skill was perceivable by adults with HL (and therefore accessible for insight) and that liminal thresholds varied across skills and across individuals [ 43 , 45 , 46 , 49 , 52 , 58 , 59 , 61 , 70 – 73 ]. The contributing studies suggested that listening skills may be further classified as having an auditory-linguistic focus (28 studies) [ 39 , 40 , 43 , 45 – 47 , 49 – 51 , 56 , 57 , 59 , 60 , 62 – 65 , 69 – 72 , 74 – 79 ], or a compensatory focus (28 studies) [ 39 , 41 – 43 , 45 – 49 , 51 , 52 , 54 , 56 – 60 , 62 – 70 , 75 ]. Auditory-linguistic skills included skills relating to components of auditory or linguistic processing (e.g., listening to high frequency sounds, ability to listen to multiple speakers, utilising of semantic knowledge); whereas compensatory skills were suggested to be skills/actions deployed by an adults with HL to offset the suboptimal auditory signal arising from HL and/or the current acoustic conditions (e.g., planning, use of visual clues such as written text).…”

“…Listening behaviours and skills were described as either having an orientation towards self (25 studies), such adjusting one’s proximity to the speaker [ 39 – 45 , 49 , 51 , 52 , 56 – 59 , 61 , 62 , 64 – 67 , 69 , 70 , 75 , 78 , 80 ], or an orientation towards others (19 studies) [ 39 , 41 , 43 , 45 , 48 – 50 , 54 , 56 , 58 – 60 , 62 , 64 – 66 , 68 , 81 ]. For example, adults with HL described asking their communication partners to adapt their behaviour to facilitate interaction [ 47 ].…”

“…Data from 37 (80.4%) studies described psychosocial outcomes of living with HL [ 39 , 41 – 47 , 49 – 51 , 53 , 54 , 56 – 59 , 61 , 63 – 70 , 72 – 75 , 77 – 80 , 82 – 84 ].Overall, HL was suggested to have negative impacts on social activity , participants’ emotional and physical well-being , and quality of life . Difficulty participating in social activities was a recurring theme and was discussed in 21 studies [ 41 , 42 , 44 , 45 , 50 , 51 , 54 , 56 – 59 , 61 , 64 – 66 , 69 , 70 , 72 , 73 , 75 , 79 ].Participants reported frequently withdrawing from social activities or declining to participate due to difficulties with hearing and listening (nine studies),[ 41 – 43 , 49 , 57 , 58 , 65 , 66 , 72 ] and 20 studies reported participants’ experiences of social isolation [ 41 – 46 , 49 , …”

“…Coding within this theme suggested that communication was impacted by HL for both the adults with HL and their communication partners. Communication partners deployed a range of strategies to support the adults with HL including the use of clear speech (4 studies) [ 41 , 47 , 49 , 60 ], getting adults’ with HL attention before speaking (2 studies) [ 41 , 49 ], and relaying précised information (7 studies) [ 43 , 45 , 47 , 56 , 58 , 68 , 82 ]. Eleven studies suggested that adults with HL took responsibility for ensuring their communication needs were known and requested that communication partners adapt their behaviour accordingly [ 39 , 41 , 43 , 45 , 49 , 54 , 56 , 59 , 60 , 64 , 66 ].…”

Hearing loss and depressive symptoms in older Chinese: whether social isolation plays a role

“…Audiologists or social healthcare workers are encouraged to provide emotional support and address the psychosocial needs for individuals with hearing loss, which might be helpful to improve mental health [ 52 , 53 ]. However, despite the existing need by individuals with hearing loss, to date healthcare services for hearing-impaired individuals are mainly focused on treatment [ 54 ] and psychosocial support is rarely provided to them for coping with the social difficulties related to hearing loss [ 55 ]. This calls for effective interventions to tackle the issues related to increasing prevalence and detrimental impact of both social isolation and hearing loss.…”