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

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

本研究旨在评估加拿大新不伦瑞克省面向低收入且未经治疗的听力损失老年群体提供的免费社区听力干预方案的可接受性与获益价值。本研究采用混合方法的前后干预研究设计，于基线阶段及干预后3个月时对受试者的沟通功能与社会支持相关维度进行评估。研究于研究站点及低收入社区的本地活动中心开展筛查，共纳入175名独立生活的老年受试者中的124名。其中70名（56.5%）受试者自报为女性，54名（43.5%）为男性，平均年龄74.5岁。相较于基线，干预后3个月的平均效应量显示：听力障碍影响量表简化版（HHIE-S）为0.99（大效应量）、杜克社会支持量表（DSSI）为0.58（中效应量）、听力自我效能量表（LSEQ）为1.02（大效应量），分别表明受试者的自我感知沟通功能、社会支持水平与倾听自我效能感均得到显著改善。尽管面临新冠疫情相关挑战，HEARS方案仍具备良好的实施可行性，且深受受试者认可，其带来的获益涵盖沟通功能、自我效能感与社会支持水平的提升。HEARS方案在加拿大另一省份的全新人群中取得成功，表明该方案具备可推广性与适配性，可用于拓展针对无法常规获取听力服务的老年群体的听力服务覆盖范围。