Abstract
Objectives
To report the effectiveness of, and barriers and facilitators to, hearing rehabilitation
for care home residents with dementia.
Design
Systematic review.
Setting and Participants
Care home residents with dementia and hearing loss.
Methods
No restrictions on publication date or language were set and gray literature was considered.
Eligible studies were critically appraised and presented via a narrative review.
Results
Sixteen studies, most of low to moderate quality, were identified. Hearing rehabilitation,
including hearing devices, communication techniques, and visual aids (eg, flashcards),
was reported to improve residents' communication and quality of life and reduce agitation,
with improvements in staff knowledge of hearing loss and job satisfaction. Residents'
symptoms of dementia presented barriers, for example, losing or not tolerating hearing
aids. Low staff prioritization of hearing loss due to time pressures and lack of hearing-related
training for staff were further barriers, particularly for residents who required
assistance with hearing devices. Adopting a person-centered approach based on residents’
capabilities and preferences and involving family members facilitated hearing device
use.
Conclusions and Implications
Residents with dementia can benefit from hearing rehabilitation. Identifying and implementing
efficient, individualized hearing rehabilitation is necessary for those with complex
cognitive needs. Increased funding and support for the social care sector is required
to address systemic issues that pose barriers to hearing rehabilitation, including
time pressures, lack of training for staff and access to audiology services for residents.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 15, 2021
Footnotes
This work was supported by the Alzheimer's Society, UK (grant 403, AS-PhD-17b-006, to H.C.); the Constance Owens Charitable Trust (to E.H.); the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Manchester Biomedical Centre (BRC-1215-20007, to R.M., C.J.A., and P.D.); the NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Translational Research Centre (to C.J.A.); I European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant 668648 to I.L.); and The Global Brain Health Institute (to I.L.).
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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