BackgroundHearing loss is one of the most common chronic conditions in older adults. In audiology literature, several studies have examined the attitudes and behavior of people with hearing loss; however, not much is known about the manner in which society in general views and perceives hearing loss. This exploratory study was aimed at understanding the social representation of hearing loss (among the general public) in the countries of India, Iran, Portugal, and the UK. We also compared these social representations.Materials and methodsThe study involved a cross-sectional design, and participants were recruited using the snowball sampling method. A total of 404 people from four countries participated in the study. Data were collected using a free-association task where participants were asked to produce up to five words or phrases that came to mind while thinking about hearing loss. In addition, they were also asked to indicate if each word they presented had positive, neutral, or negative associations in their view. Data were analyzed using various qualitative and quantitative methods.ResultsThe most frequently occurring categories were: assessment and management; causes of hearing loss; communication difficulties; disability; hearing ability or disability; hearing instruments; negative mental state; the attitudes of others; and sound and acoustics of the environment. Some categories were reported with similar frequency in most countries (eg, causes of hearing loss, communication difficulties, and negative mental state), whereas others differed among countries. Participants in India reported significantly more positive and fewer negative associations when compared to participants from Iran, Portugal, and the UK. However, there was no statistical difference among neutral responses reported among these countries. Also, more differences were noted among these countries than similarities.ConclusionThese findings provide useful insights into the public perception of hearing loss that may prove useful in public education and counseling.

BackgroundThe current study was aimed at understanding the social representation of hearing aids in India, Iran, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. We also compared these results to explore the cross-cultural differences and similarities among these countries.MethodsThe study involved a cross-sectional design, and the data were collected from four different countries using the snowball sampling method. Data were analyzed using a content analysis to identify the most-similar categories of responses reported, a co-occurrences analysis to see which of these categories are reported commonly, and a chi-square analysis to study if there was any association between positive, neutral, and negative connotations among participants in different countries.ResultsThe current study revealed four different social representations of hearing aids from India, Iran, Portugal, and the United Kingdom, and also a global index.ConclusionThe study results provide very useful insights into how hearing aids are represented in the society. These findings may have important implications for public education and also for manufacturers from the viewpoint of designing and marketing hearing aids in different countries.

There is an aspiration and policy within the European Union to fully involve persons with disabilities in the community; this implies an opportunity to gainful employment. A large percentage of disabled persons remain unemployed despite this policy, especially persons with mental health problems. This study aims at investigating how people with mental health problems and caseworkers in different agencies experience the vocational rehabilitation process from an interagency collaboration perspective. The study reveals a number of hindering factors portrayed and discussed in six themes -the time available for rehabilitation, management, new ways of working, absence of an actor, continuity and consensus -and also tables the implications for interagency collaboration in the field of vocational rehabilitation. Points of interestWork is an important part of people's lives. Through work, opportunities for social contact, affection and self-fulfilment are promoted. There is, within the European Union, a pronounced aspiration and policy that persons with disabilities should be fully involved in the community, which includes opportunities to gainful employment. Despite this policy, a very large amount of these people remain unemployed. This study aims at investigating how people with mental health problems and workers in different agencies experience the vocational rehabilitation process from an interagency collaboration perspective. The study reveals a number of hindering factors portrayed in six themes: the time available for rehabilitation, management, new ways of working, absence of an actor, continuity and consensus. Based on the results the researchers emphasize those activities in vocational rehabilitation that they believe would significantly enhance both the integrated collaboration as well as the rehabilitation process for the individual.

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