Examination of the Relationship Among Hearing Impairment, Linguistic Communication, Mood, and Social Engagement of Residents in Complex Continuing-Care Facilities

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of this work was to examine how structural factors, residents' needs for physical and psychosocial assistance, and the work stressors experienced by employees are related to the quality of life of elderly residents in long-term care. Design and Methods. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 1,194 employees and 1,079 relatives of residents in 107 residential-home units and healthcenter bed wards. Data were analyzed using multilevel modeling. Results. The majority of differences in both employees' and relatives' perceptions of residents' quality of life across units could be explained by work stressors such as time pressure. Large unit size was related to both increased time pressure among employees and reduced quality of life of residents. Implications. Long-term care units are encouraged to review their practices so that employee well-being is supported. Attention also should be focused on unit size, as small units appear better able to help employees cope with work stress, resulting in better quality of life for residents.

Auto-avaliação da audição em idosos

“…Alguns autores acreditam que o processo de debilidade sensorial, que se dá com o passar dos anos, seja normal e inerente a todos os seres humanos, percebido em menor ou maior grau pelos diferentes indivíduos 17 , enquanto outros o caracterizam como uma morbidade e recomendam sua pesquisa e intervenção adequada 18 .…”

Could Driving Safety be Compromised by Noise Exposure at Work and Noise-Induced Hearing Loss?

“…The problem gets more intricate when adding spectral smearing on impaired ears (Plomp, 1978), which makes listening even more laborious (Hicks et al, 2002). There will also be a reduction in the number of interpersonal communications (Clark et al, 1999), which increases the handicap (WHO, 2000) in a way that is similar to the consequences of hearing loss (Brink et al, 2007).…”

Association of Self-Reported Hearing Difficulty to Objective and Perceived Participation Outside the Home in Older Community-Dwelling Adults

“…Good hearing is a prerequisite for verbal communication and thus essential for social 24 interaction with other people (Brink & Stones, 2007). However, hearing problems are extremely 25 common in older adults.…”

“…It has also been shown that even mild cognitive impairment has a deleterious 342 effect on auditory processing (Rahman et al, 2011), which in turn may hamper verbal 343 communication. According to Brink et al, impaired verbal communication is a factor that 344 mediates the influence of hearing loss on social engagement (Brink & Stones, 2007). Further, 345 cognitive problems may disturb verbal communication due to the misinterpretations of 346 nonliteral meanings used in spoken language (Maki, Yamaguchi, Koeda, & Yamaguchi, 2013).…”