Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T07:57:17.829Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Knowledge and Attitudes About Ageing: Their Effects on Auditory Rehabilitation Recommendations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2012

Elinor Seville ,
Fiona M. Alpass  and
Nancy Pachana
Elinor Seville
Affiliation:
Massey University, New Zealand
Fiona M. Alpass
Affiliation:
Massey University, New Zealand
Nancy Pachana
Affiliation:
University of Queensland, Australia.
Get access

Abstract

As the proportion of the population over age 65 in many countries continues to grow, it becomes increasingly important for health care professionals to have well-grounded knowledge of ageing processes and positive attitudes towards their older clients. In New Zealand the third most limiting chronic health condition for older adults is hearing impairment. In this study, audiologists and hearing therapists in New Zealand were asked to complete measures of knowledge and attitudes towards older adults as well as a vignette measuring treatment options. While it was hypothesised that, due to audiologists' higher overall levels of academic qualifications gained, audiologists would have more knowledge and therefore better attitudes towards older adults, there was no difference between the groups' knowledge levels. Further analyses suggested that attitudes held were in part a function of gender and possibly education, with less educated females having more positive attitudes. While all participants had positive attitudes these did not always result in the most appropriate treatment. It was concluded that a lack of specific gerontological knowledge rather than negative attitudes resulted in less appropriate treatment recommendations for older adults.

Type
Articles
Information
The Australian Journal of Rehabilitation Counselling , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , January 2003 , pp. 26 - 39
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ajzen, I. (1988). Attitudes, personality and behavior. Chicago: The Dorsey Press.Google Scholar
Andersson, G. (1995). Are two hearing aids better than one? Perceptual and Motor Skills, 81, 1130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Astle, F. (2000). Factors influencing the attitudes of health care workers toward the institutionalized elderly. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: the Sciences & Engineering, 60(7-B), 3233.Google Scholar
Chen, H-L. (1994). Hearing in the elderly: Relation of hearing loss, loneliness, and self-esteem. journal of Gerontological Nursing, 20, 22–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clark, M. (1996). Measuring facts and views of aging with Palmore's quizzes. The Gerontobgist, 36, 375.Google Scholar
Cole, E., & Dancer, J. (1996). Comparison of four health-care disciplines on the Facts on Aging and Mental Health quiz. Psychological Reports, 79, 350.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edwards, M.J J., & Aldous, I.R. (1996). Attitudes to and knowledge about elderly people: A comparative analysis of students of medicine, English and computer science and their teachers. Medical Education, 30, 221–225.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Erdman, S.A., & Demorest, M.E. (1998). Adjustment to Hearing Impairment I: Description of a heterogeneous clinical population. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 41, 107–122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hale, N.M. (1998). Psychology students' clinical judgments as a function of patient age and pathology. Journal of Clinical Geropsychohgy, 4, 1–15.Google Scholar
Haught, P.A., Walls, R.T., Laney, J.D., Leavell, A., & Stuzen, S. (1999). Child and adolescent knowledge and attitudes towards older adults across time and states. Educational Gerontoiogy, 25, 501–517.Google Scholar
Hellbusch, J.S., Corbin, D.E., Thorson, J.A., & Stacy, R.D. (1994). Physicians' attitudes towards aging. Gerontology and Geriatrics Education, 15, 55–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hétu, R. (1996). The stigma attached to hearing impairment. Scandinavian Audiology, 25, 12–24.Google Scholar
Hilt, M.L., & Lipschultz, J.H. (1999). Revising the Kogan Scale: A test of local television news producer's attitudes towards older adults. Educational Gerontology, 25, 143–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holliday, R. (1995). Understanding ageing. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, W.H., & Haley, W.E. (1995). Age and health bias in practicing clinical psychologists. Psychology and Aging, 10, 610–616.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jerram, J.C.K., & Purdey, S.C. (1996). Hearing aid use and benefit and uptake of aural rehabilitation services by New Zealand hearing aid wearers. New Zealand Medical Journal, 109, 450–451.Google ScholarPubMed
Kee, W.G., Middaugh, S.J., Redpath, S.L., & Hargadon, R. (1998). Age as a factor in admission to chronic pain rehabilitation. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 14, 121–128.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kochkin, S. (2000). MarkeTrak V: “Why my hearing aids are in the drawer”: The consumers' perspective. The Hearing Journal, 53, 34–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kogan, N. (1961). Attitudes towards old people: The development of a scale and an examination of correlates. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 62, 44–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lubinski, R. (1995). State-of-the-art perspectives on communication in nursing homes. Topics in Language Disorders, 15, 1–19.Google Scholar
Luszcz, M.A., & Fitzgerald, K.M. (1986). Understanding cohort differences in cross-generational, self and peer perceptions. Journal of Gerontology, 41, 234–240.Google ScholarPubMed
Miller, S.T., & Zapala, D.A. (1998). Better use of hearing aids in hearing-impaired adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 46, 1168–1169CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. (1997). Ageing in OECD countries: A status report. Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
Pallant, J. (2001). SPSS Survival Manual. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Palmore, E.B. (1998). The facts on aging quiz (2nd ed.). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Pamplin, E., & Dancer, J. (1998). Feedback from members of ADA: The importance of counseling in amplification. Feedback, 9, 17–18.Google Scholar
Pennington, H.R., Pachana, N.A., & Coyle, S. (2001). Use of the facts on Aging Quiz in New Zealand: Validation of questions, performance of a student sample, and effects of a “Don't Know” option. Educational Gerontology, 27, 409–416.Google Scholar
Perry, J.S., & Slemp, S.R. (1980). Differences among three adult age groups in their attitudes towards self and others. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 136, 275–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pichora-Fuller, K. & Cheesman, M. (1997). Preface to the special issue on hearing and aging. Journal of Speech -Language Pathology and Audiology. Retrieved from http://caslpa.ca/francais/pubs/preface.htm.Google Scholar
Poon, L.W. (1995). Learning. In Maddox, G.L., (Ed.), The encyclopedia of aging (2nd ed., pp. 542–543). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Rojeski, T.J. (1996). Acquired hearing loss and mental health perspectives. Feedback, 7, 23–24.Google Scholar
Rothman, K.J. (1986), Modern epidemiology. Boston: Little, Brown & Company.Google Scholar
Rybash, J.M., Roodin, P.A., & Hoyer, W.J. (1995). Adult development and aging (3rd ed.). Dubuque, IA: Brown & Benchmark.Google Scholar
Ryynanen, O-P., Myllykangas, M., Kinnunin, J., & Takala, J. (1997). Doctors' willingness to refer elderly patients for elective surgery. Family Practice, 14, 216–219.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Satherley, N.A. (1992). A survey of hearing aid users and the establishment and evaluation of a hearing and rehabilitation program in the Christchurch region. Unpublished manuscript, University of Canterbury.Google Scholar
Sheffler, S.J. (1995). Do clinical experiences affect nursing students' attitudes towards the elderly? Journal of Nursing Education, 34, 312–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheffler, S.J. (1998). Clinical placements and correlates affecting student attitudes towards the elderly. Journal of Nursing Education, 37, 216–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singleton, J.F., Harbison, J., Melanson, P., & Jackson, G. (1993). A study of the factual knowledge and common misperceptions about aging held by health care professionals. Activities, Adaptation and Aging, 18, 31–41.Google Scholar
Slotterback, C.S., & Saarnio, D.A. (1996). Attitudes towards older adults reported by young adults: Variations based on attitudinal task and attribute categories. Psychology and Aging, 11, 563–571.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Statistics New Zealand. (1998). New Zealand now: 65 plus. Wellington: Statistics New Zealand.Google Scholar
Stephens, D. (1996). Hearing rehabilitation in a psychosocial framework. Scandinavian Audiology, 25, 5–66.Google Scholar
Tabachnick, B., & Fidell, L. (2000). Using multivariate statistics (4th ed.). New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Tye-Murray, N. (1998). Foundations of aural rehabilitation. San Diego: Singular Publishing.Google Scholar
Ventry, I., & Weinstein, B (1983). Identification of elderly people with hearing problems. ASHA, 25, 37–47.Google ScholarPubMed