There is limited research related to counselling in audiology. Audiologists continue to report a need for more training in counselling in their graduate programmes. Additional research is needed to determine effective ways to implement counselling in practice and to improve graduate student supervision for the development of counselling competencies and confidence in using skills in practice.
For young children with hearing loss to achieve optimal benefit from auditory experiences for speech and language development, they need evidence-based, comprehensive, and coordinated hearing aid management. Audiologists have an important role for teaching information and skills related to hearing aids, supporting parent learning, and collaborating with other providers. Pediatric audiologists in this study recognized and desired the need for further training in counseling skills that can better prepare them to meet the emotional needs of parents in the hearing aid management process.
Purpose Counseling practices in audiology play a critical role in helping patients and families understand, accept, and adjust to the dynamic impacts ear-related disorders have on their lives. The purpose of this study was to identify what competencies (i.e., knowledge, skills, and attitudes) are important for audiologists to possess to provide effective counseling in practice. Method A modified Delphi study design was used to survey a panel of 33 professionals with expertise in audiologic counseling from 5 different countries. In the 1st survey round, experts were asked to respond to 3 open-ended prompts. Responses were condensed and revised into items experts were asked to rate during the 2nd and 3rd survey rounds, on a 6-point Likert scale of importance. Results A total of 819 items were generated from the open-ended prompts. A total of 72 items were included in the 2nd and 3rd rounds of survey instruments. Consensus was met on 64 audiologic counseling competency items. Conclusions The competency items identified in this study reflect important knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are important to audiologic counseling. Items that met consensus in this study can inform competencies audiology students can acquire during graduate training. Practice guidelines in the field currently lack the necessary clarity and detail needed for implementation of counseling competencies in clinical education. Future research is needed to explore factors important for implementation of evidence-based counseling training in graduate audiology programs.
Background Psychosocial well-being can interfere with engagement in activities of daily life. Consideration of psychosocial domains within hearing health care can expand audiologists' ability to understand treatment barriers and provide an opportunity to jointly address challenges. Purpose This study explored psychosocial well-being and predictors among adults who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). Research Design Cross-sectional survey. Study Sample Two-hundred and sixty-nine surveys were included in the analysis. Data Collection and Analysis Data were collected online. Backward elimination regression analyses were used to identify significant predictors of psychosocial well-being. Results Findings indicated most (∼70–80%) of the respondents' scores were below clinical cut-off for psychological distress, self-efficacy, quality of life, overall well-being, functioning, and relationship satisfaction, with the remainder falling between mild to severe clinical cut-offs. Psychological distress was predicted by more psychological inflexibility, presence of additional disabilities, and younger age. Increased functional impairment was predicted by psychological inflexibility. Conclusion The majority of adults who are DHH in this study had positive indicators for psychosocial well-being. Screening patients for psychological flexibility could be included in standard hearing health care practices to help clinicians identify individuals who may benefit from additional or different support.
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