Thesis (B.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2003. / "A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, April 30, 2003." Includes bibliographical references (p. 28-29) Also available in print.

Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / "A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, May 10, 2002." Also available in print.

No description available.

Thesis (M. Communication Pathology)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Summary in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references.

At least two studies have been found conducted in the area of audiological in-services and their impact on the people to whom they were presented. In 1981, Dancer and Keiser studied the effects of empathy training on geriatric-care nurses and in 1985, Dampier, Dancer, and Keiser studied changing attitudes of college students toward older persons with hearing loss. Both of the studies investigated the effect of in-service training on empathy, rather than using the traditional academicallyoriented in-service program approach. Both studies found statistical results indicating a significant positive change in the subjects' feelings toward hearing impaired geriatrics. Additionally, Dancer et al. (1981) found a positive significant change in the subjects' perceptions of hearing impaired elderly persons. This study investigated the effect of an in-service training program on nursing home personnel. The in-service that was developed included both empathy training and factual information. It was hypothesized that both elements are important and the inclusion of both could result in a greater change in people's attitude. The empathy portion of this in-service included a taped interview with a hearing impaired older person, a tape dramatizing interactions between hearing impaired and normal hearing individuals, simulated high frequency hearing loss, an "unfair listening test" and suggestions for interacting with hearing impaired people. The factual information included anatomy and physiology of the ear, types of hearing loss, common characteristics of hearing loss among older people, and the impact of hearing loss on speech understanding.

Thesis (Ed.D.) -- Teachers College, Columbia University, 1991. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Seymour Rigrodsky. Dissertation Committee: Eleanor B. Morrison. Includes bibliographical references: (leaves 82-87).

This study assessed the effective use of pure-tone testing versus speech testing as used to predict the degree of hearing handicap experienced by an individual. Twenty-one subjects over the age of 65 were tested. Each subject was administered the following test battery: spondee threshold; a pure-tone evaluation, including air and bone conduction; Speech Perception in Noise (SPIN) test; Synthetic Sentence Identification (SSI) test; NU-6 for speech discrimination; establishment of most comfortable listening level (MCL) and loudness discomfort listening level (LDL); immittance testing including tympanograms, acoustic reflex thresholds, and reflex decay.

The relationship between visual short term memory (as measured by the Memory for Designs Test) and speechreading ability (as measured by the Barley Speechreading Test) was investigated in a sample of twenty-seven hearing impaired geriatrics. Correlation analysis verified a statistically significant relationship between Memory for Designs Test scores and Barley Speechreading Test scores. Partial correlation revealed the relationship between speechreading scores and short term memory scores was rot influenced significantly by variance in chronological age or speech discrimination ability. Memory for Designs Test scores were shown to be accurate predictors of scores achieved on the Barley Speechreading Test. Results of this study suggest that development of different approaches (for evaluating speechreading ability of geriatrics) could prove more informative and useful than the speechreading tests currently in use. For example, development of a speechreading test, composed of several subtests (such as visual short term memory) which would evaluate specific factors related to speechreading ability, would optimize both clinical

No description available.

Grounded in Green and Kreuter's (1991) flexible research framework (the PRECEDE model), the prime purpose of this doctoral research agenda has been to enhance our understanding of the frequently obscure psychosocial implications of ageing with hearing handicap (HH) in the audible world, by focusing on the dyadic perspectives of older New Zealand (NZ) ex-service personnel and their spouses. Glass and Balfour's (2003) Ecological Model of Ageing guided the multidisciplinary literature review, in order to accommodate the functional implications of age-related losses which could potentially exacerbate the social and emotional sequelae of ageing with HH and tinnitus. In addition, Cohen's (1992) Transactional Model of Stress (which integrates three social support constructs with Lazarus and Folkman's [1984] model describing adaptations to stressful events), illustrates how on-going social and emotional adjustments to hearing losses could potentially affect older adults' health-related quality of life (H-QoL). Infused by these transdisciplinary ecological perspectives, a composite model of Ageing with Hearing Handicap was proposed to explore older dyadic partner perspectives of NZ veterans' adjustment to ageing with hearing handicap; and to identify which factors exerted the most influence over the veterans' self-reported perceptions of HH and H-QoL. Methods: A purposive pilot study sample (N=51 veterans) initially guided the appropriate selection of ecologically relevant biopsychosocial variables and data collection methods (self-report mail out booklets) for two subsequent studies: (i) The main 'parent' study (referred to as the Hearing Aid Research Project [HARP]), which examined the predictors of hearing aid use in veterans aged 50 year and older; and (ii) The doctoral study, which explored dyadic perspectives of ageing with HH. The doctoral study's dyadic partner sample (N=671 dyads) comprised a subset of the 1249 HARP veterans. This subset met the doctoral study's inclusion criteria of male veterans aged 65 years plus, who had responded with a female partner/spouse residing in the same household. Only dyads with reasonably complete mail out survey response sets were selected. The dyadic partner response sets included social demographic details and responses to a number of constructs relevant to the doctoral research context including: aural rehabilitation, HH, H-QoL, emotional wellbeing, social support and memory in everyday life. Results: The results describe significantly different aural rehabilitation coping trajectories between the self-identified 'first time' and more experienced hearing aid users; and dyadic partner comparisons which highlight that the female partners were more acutely aware of the stigmatising impact of hearing losses on the veterans' social and emotional agency. Analyses of the intersecting structural and functional features of social support illustrated that increasing levels of the veterans' hearing handicap (HH) exacerbated both partners' social isolation. Wenger's (1994) support network typology illustrated how both partners' depressive symptoms and the veterans' frequency of forgetting increased significantly across a socially integrated to isolated support network continuum. The composite model of Ageing with Hearing Handicap accounted for 71.5% of the variation in the veterans' self-reported HH; 62.6% of their physical and 37.3% of their mental H-QoL. The multivariate analyses also demonstrated that HH produced a direct and negative impact on the veterans' mental H-QoL, by constraining their social and emotional agency; but only indirectly on their physical H-QoL, through reducing their energy levels and constraining their social participation. Conclusions: These transdisciplinary perspectives provide cross-sectional insights about the social and emotional wellbeing of veterans ageing with HH and their spouses, and suggest downstream links that affect their H-QoL. These findings highlight the importance of hearing health policy agendas and the communication contexts of health service delivery across all age groups. Moreover, by resolving the complex methodological and conceptual challenges inherent in focussing on older dyadic partners' everyday experiences, targets have become apparent for further investigation, to enhance and refine our understandings of engaging ecological perspectives when conducting health research.