“This Is a Partnership Between All of Us”: Audiologists' Perceptions of Family Member Involvement in Hearing Rehabilitation

Carly Meyer, Nerina Scarinci, Brooke Ryan, Louise Hickson

To explore the perceptions of audiologists' about the role of family members in hearing rehabilitation for older adults with hearing impairment (HI), the influence of family member involvement on outcomes, and factors affecting their involvement. A qualitative descriptive research study was undertaken. Using a purposeful sampling strategy, nine audiologists were recruited. Audiologists participated in individual semi-structured interviews. Interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis and a process of member checking was used to enhance the trustworthiness of findings reported. The importance of "promoting partnership" emerged as the overarching theme. Audiologists valued promoting partnership with family members so that: a shared understanding could be established; family members could be active participants with distinct roles in hearing rehabilitation; and the rehabilitation outcomes for the person with HI could be improved. Audiologists generally reported low attendance rates of family members to appointments and identified five major factors impacting on family participation. There is growing recognition among audiologists of the importance of promoting partnership with family members during the hearing rehabilitation process. More research is needed to develop and evaluate a family-centred model of hearing health care that considers the service-level barriers identified by audiologists in the present study.