Addressing Hearing Health Care Disparities among Older Adults in a US-Mexico Border Community

2016
Hearing loss is associated with cognitive decline and impairment in daily living activities. Access to hearing health care has broad implications for healthy aging of the U.S. population. This qualitative study investigated factors related to the socio-ecological domains of hearing health in a U.S.-Mexico border community experiencing disparities in access to care. A multidisciplinary research team partnered with community health workers (CHWs) from a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in designing the study. CHWs conducted interviews with people with hearing loss (n = 20) and focus groups with their family/friends (n = 27) and with members of the community-at-large (n = 47). The research team conducted interviews with FQHC providers and staff (n = 12). Individuals experienced depression, sadness, and social isolation, as well as frustration and even anger regarding communication. Family members experienced negative impacts of deteriorating communication, but expressed few coping strategies. There was general agreement across data sources that hearing loss was not routinely addressed within primary care and assistive hearing technology was generally unaffordable. Community members described stigma related to hearing loss and a need for greater access to hearing health care and broader community education. Findings confirm the causal sequence of hearing impairment on quality of life aggravated by socioeconomic conditions and lack of access to hearing health care. Hearing loss requires a comprehensive and innovative public health response across the socio-ecological framework that includes both individual communication intervention and greater access to hearing health resources. CHWs can be effective in tailoring intervention strategies to community characteristics.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
卷号:4
收录类型
SSCI
发表日期
2016
学科领域
循证公共卫生
国家
美国
语种
英语
DOI
10.3389/fpubh.2016.00169
其他关键词
PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH; IMPAIRMENT; WORKERS; AUDIOLOGY; PROMOTION; BENEFITS; SCIENCE
EISSN
2296-2565
资助机构
NIH/NIDCDUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Institute on Deafness & Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) [R21 DC013681-02]; NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERSUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Institute on Deafness & Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) [R21DC013681, R33DC013681] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
资助信息
This research was funded by NIH/NIDCD R21 DC013681-02.
被引频次(WOS)
12
被引更新日期
2022-01
来源机构
University of Arizona University of Arizona University of Arizona
关键词
community-based participatory research aging hearing loss community health workers socio-ecological model health disparities