New Brunswick HEARS: outcomes of a community-delivered hearing intervention adapted for older adults in Atlantic Canada.

Abstract

Objective: To assess acceptability and benefit of a community-based hearing intervention delivered at no cost to lower-income older adults with untreated hearing loss in New Brunswick, Canada.

Design: Mixed method pre-post intervention study investigating aspects of communication function and social support at baseline and three months post-intervention.

Study sample: 124 of 175 independent-living older adults screened at the study site and in local community centres in low-income neighbourhoods were recruited into the study.

Results: In 70 (56.5%) participants self-identified as female and 54 (43.5%) as male, with mean age of 74.5 years, mean effect sizes measured from baseline to 3-months post-intervention were 0.99 (large) for HHIE-S, 0.58 (medium) for DSSI, and 1.02 (large) for LSEQ indicating significant improvement in self-perceived communication function, social support and listening self-efficacy, respectively.

Conclusion: The HEARS program is feasible to implement, despite Covid-19 pandemic related challenges, highly acceptable to participants, and associated with a range of benefits that include improved communication function, self-efficacy and social support. The success of HEARS in a new population in a second Canadian province indicates its adaptability and suitability for scaling to extend the reach of hearing services for older adults who may not otherwise access care.