Publication Date

Spring 2025

Degree Type

Doctoral Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Department

Nursing

First Advisor

Ruth K. Rosenblum

Keywords

Hearing, Hearing aids, Education, Care Partners

Abstract

Hearing loss is a significant communication issue that impacts relationships, safety, and mental and physical health. There is an increased risk of dementia as well as increased mortality associated with untreated hearing loss. Hearing aids are one of the main treatments for hearing loss, but they are frequently not used. Cognitive impairment, osteoarthritis of the hands, cost and complexity are some of the reasons that hearing aids do not get utilized. But research has shown that involving family members and care partners in trainings on how to use hearing aids may increase use of them. The goal of this project was to determine if an educational intervention, using multiple learning modalities, could increase knowledge about hearing loss and hearing aids and augment hearing aid use, specifically by offering training to those with hearing loss and their care partners. A single-group pretest posttest quasi-experimental project was done to measure knowledge gain, and a follow-up survey was conducted to determine if hearing aid use increased. The results showed that both knowledge and reported hearing aid use did increase after the educational intervention. This demonstrates that educating caregivers and family members could be a useful option to prevent the health and safety issues associated with untreated hearing loss.

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