Search results

In Collection Building, Vol. 8, No. 4, a bibliography of U.S. government publications on AIDS from 1981 to September 1986 appeared. This annotated bibliography updates that work, covering legislative materials from 1986 to 1989. Documents that have information prior to 1986 are included when they were not published until 1986, such as a congressional hearings from 1985. This bibliography is thorough and comprehensive in its coverage of legislative materials, with an exception of two items from the Congressional Research Service. Contractor documents from the Office of Technology Assessment are included when found, but there is no systematic method to identify such sources.

It has been argued by researchers from the Anglo‐Saxon nations that the rationality of the market has increasingly infiltrated the medical field. This paper seeks to enquire via policy analysis to what extent these principles have affected the prototypical welfare state of Denmark in relation to Danish hearing health policies.

The paper is based on qualitative methods comprising observations and interviews in two hearing clinics.

The paper shows that rather than a “withdrawal” of the state there has been a process of reform. The data suggest that a distinguishing mark of the consumer role on offer in Denmark is that, along with a free hearing aid, the Danish health consumer enjoys a range of rights and reciprocal responsibilities. The paper concludes that few of the hearing‐impaired patients were able to embrace the consumer ethos, and those who chose not to wear their prescribed hearing aids experienced the added burden of moral reproach.

It makes little sense to analyse abstracted rationalities without proceeding to analyse how they actually function in practice. This paper demonstrates empirically how and to what degree governmentality is embedded in social practice in two public hearing clinics in Denmark.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID), a major UK third sector organisation, on public sector provision. The case examined is that of auditory services (in effect the nature of assessment and provision of hearing aids in England).

The approach is that of a case study of the actions and approach of the RNID and their engagement with the public sector, in particular with the UK National Health Service.

The case study shows the very considerable impact, which the RNID had in effecting a dramatic improvement in the quality of the service offered through the move to digital hearing aids and through the improvement of the audiology services themselves. The RNID, through using its expertise, also succeeded in achieving a huge reduction in the unit cost of digital hearing aids. A value chain approach is utilised to examine the effect of the RNID.

The case study furnishes an account of impact on a national level in a key service. It shows how a third sector organisation can use expertise to leverage impact using public sector resources. It shows that even with very large government purchases a key factor is specific knowledge, which if possessed by a third sector organisations, can be used to major effect.

The case study demonstrates impact and the effective operation of a cross‐sectoral partnership. One of the authors (Lamb) is closely involved from the organisational perspective.

Prevalence of hearing impairment is quite common in people with learning disabilities (double jeopardy). However, this debilitating co‐morbidity remains largely undetected by carers and professionals due to presence of additional disabilities and complex clinical presentation in this population on the one hand, and lack of specialist hearing impairment service provision and difficulty in accessing generic audiology services on the other hand. This article aims to provide practical guidance on assessment and management of hearing impairment in people with learning disabilities by offering a narrative review of available literature on gaps in service delivery.

In most classrooms, where information is presented orally via spoken language, accurate knowledge of a student’s hearing status is crucial so that the interdisciplinary team can ensure appropriate service provision. Audiologists play a key role on the interdisciplinary team to provide other professionals with information about children’s hearing status, communication needs, device use, and intervention strategies. Conversely, audiologists gain valuable information and strategies from other team members.

Hearing aid (HA) using is an option for enhancing the sound transmission. It effectively improves hearing ability during communication. In Thailand, two-third of hearing impaired persons were elders, while the utilization of an HA was low. This study aims to explore how the decision was made on the use of HA among the hearing impaired elderly.

Mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was used by starting with a retrospective study to identify the prevalence of HA use and influencing factors including demographic and clinical data. Total, 199 elders with moderate to severe hearing impairment were enrolled. Qualitative data collection for thematic analysis was conducted by interviewing 28 participants to reveal elders’ subjective reasoning.

It was found that 25.63% of elders used an HA, whereas age, types of health insurance and disability registration were significant influencing factors. Six themes of subjective reasoning emerged including social activities, disability perspective, social support, medical and personnel, rights and accessibility and benefit of HA, which determined the elders’ decisions on HA use.

This study broadened insights of the elders’ decision process on HA use, which was mutually made by both health-care professional and care recipients. The elders themselves would make the final decision. Not only objective indications but also subjective reasoning of users played significant roles on HA acquisition. To enhance HA use among hearing impaired elders, patient engagement in decision-making was crucial while hearing counselling and elimination of reimbursement barriers became essential.

The purpose of this paper is to explore audiologists, views and experiences of working with older adults with dementia.

An online survey was distributed to audiologists working in the UK NHS and private sector via their professional organisations. A total of 312 audiologists took part in the study. The survey collected both quantitative and qualitative data. Basic descriptive statistics summarised the quantitative responses. The qualitative data were analysed using conventional thematic approaches.

The quantitative data demonstrated that the vast majority of audiologists had treated someone with dementia (96 per cent). Despite this, 65 per cent of respondents did not feel adequately supported to help this service user population. Four overarching themes were used to explain the qualitative data: integrated and individualised care; formal (including training) vs experiential knowledge; the interaction between dementia and hearing and using the technology.

The self-selecting nature of the sample is a limitation which needs to be taken into account when considering the transferability and implications of the findings.

Given the anticipated increase in rates of dementia within the population and the potential for hearing impairment to exacerbate the symptoms; this study highlights the unique role audiologists have. The need for more training and development for this professional group is also identified.

This is one of the first papers to explore audiologists, views and experiences of working with people with dementia. As such, it highlights some interesting areas worthy of further research using both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Students with communication disorders present unique challenges to educators working toward fostering an inclusive classroom. For children with speech/language impairments, expressing themselves either academically or socially may present obstacles requiring communicative support and facilitation. For children with hearing loss, full access to educational material will be difficult without technological and/or visual support. Many children may have a combination of disorders, requiring a team of educators and other professionals to provide educational content and classroom support in the most inclusive way possible. This chapter is intended to provide an overview of variety of communication disorders, along with guidelines for improving student access across educational settings.