Hearing loss affects the lives of many individuals, making communication difficult and
often negatively influencing family, social, and occupational relationships, and selfimage.
The aim of hearing rehabilitation is the reduction of communication problems
encountered by individuals with hearing loss. While participants highly value group
hearing rehabilitative programs, there is an underutilization of these rehabilitation
services.
This study explores help-seeking for advanced hearing rehabilitation by attempting to
answer the research question 'what are the factors that prevent or promote individuals
with hearing loss from seeking advanced rehabilitation in the form of group hearing
rehabilitation'? Twenty individuals participated in this study. Seven participants
reported on previous experience with a hearing rehabilitation program. The remaining
individuals were invited to participate in a program as part of the study. Four
participants declined to participate, seven completed the nine-week program, and two
dropped out before the program was completed. For those who participated in the
program, data were collected before, during, and after the program. Sources of data
included one-to-one interview sessions, journal entries, and questionnaires.
The research approach followed the principles of grounded theory, one tradition of
qualitative research. A systematic analysis of the data led to a theoretical framework.
Interview transcripts and journal entries were coded and the codes were grouped into
categories. Five categories emerged from the data: understanding hearing loss,
personal experience with hearing loss, interaction between the person with hearing loss
and society, taking action, and reflections on rehabilitation experience. Each of these
categories could a l so be considered a s responses to additional questions that emerged
as the study progressed. Throughout these categories, three recurrent themes
appeared: identity, challenge, and adjustment. These themes and categories were
incorporated into the development of the core category as a model of ecological
balance.
The findings of this study indicate that participants' help-seeking involves an iterative
process whereby identity is assessed , challenges are recognized, and adjustments are
made to address the challenges. This model has implications for audiological practice
based on the contribution it makes to our understanding of help-seeking behavior for
hearing loss, in particular, and possibly other health issues more generally.Medicine, Faculty ofAudiology and Speech Sciences, School ofGraduat