Grant Award: $97,866
Principal Investigator: Andrew Wister, Ph.D.
Institution: Simon Fraser University
Co-Investigators: Lorienne Jenstad, Ph.D University of British Columbia, M. Kathleen Pichora-Fuller, Ph.D. University of Toronto & Simon Fraser University, Jeff Small, Ph.D. The University of Western Ontario, Jaimie Borisoff, Ph.D. British Columbia Institute of Technology
Collaborators: Gloria Gutman, Ph.D. Simon Fraser University, Mathieu Hotton, Ph.D. Université Laval, Mélanie Levasseur, Ph.D. Université de Sherbrooke, Paul Mick, Ph.D. University of Saskatchewan, Brenda Poon, Ph.D. Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility
Project Summary:
The proposed project will answer three important research questions: (1) what are the experiences of social isolation, loneliness, social participation, and social support in hard of hearing older adults, (2) how do these social factors influence help-seeking for hearing difficulty and uptake of hearing treatment (for example, accessing hearing aids or classes on communication strategies), and (3) how does access to and use of hearing care services and interventions affect these social factors over time? We will draw on large-scale population data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging and also the personal experiences of individuals to address these questions.
Because hearing loss is a barrier to healthcare access, social interactions and community inclusion, it is urgent to better understand the factors that influence hearing care access and intervention uptake. This project will reduce an important gap in knowledge about how social factors – isolation, loneliness, social participation, and social support – are related to consulting a health professional about hearing loss (help-seeking) or committing to using hearing management strategies.
The results of this project will provide new information about the connections between hearing loss and social factors, and the importance of hearing care access for overall health.