Research

Over the past several years, Hillcrest Hearing Aids has collected evaluation data on participants attending THE KOOSER PROGRAM. This program has sought to improve the quality of life for people with hearing loss and for those with whom they communicate through education, information and support. Although the evaluation data collected does not directly measure quality of life change, the data does provide valuable information about participant characteristics, perceptions, and adaptive functioning which can ultimately lead to an improved quality of life for workshop participants.

We are currently in the process of refining our program evaluation to determine the effectiveness of this 8 hour group intervention. This process is ongoing and reports will be updated as the data is analyzed.

The following is a summary of the data collected from 2003 to 2006. The data was collected from questionnaires given at intervals at baseline, one month and three months as well as responses from 150 additional participants where no timeline was recorded.

The original questionnaire was based on five criteria on 11 categories of subject matters. The five criteria are: view of importance, improvement as a result of THE KOOSER PROGRAM , satisfaction, control over specific factor, and negative effect of hearing loss. The eleven categories of subject matters are: physical health, work/education, leisure activities, emotional health, financial well being, religion/spirituality, independence, family relationships, quality of life, relationship with spouse and co-worker relationships. Ratings were based on a scale of one to six, one (1) being the lowest and six (6) being the highest rating.

From the analysis collected from the participants from the baseline, one month and three month information the ratings on “Improvement as a result of THE KOOSER PROGRAM”, all showed a rating of five or six, or four improving to five or six with time. This suggests that participants found that THE KOOSER PROGRAM improved their daily functioning in each of the eleven categories and that the improvement increased over time.

Below are the results from eight of the categories when the participant was asked if THE KOOSER PROGRAM workshop improved these areas.

Items on importance all had a median rating of six, meaning that all items such as health, relationships etc. are considered important to the participant. The satisfaction criteria showed that for “physical health” and “work” categories, there was an improvement in satisfaction over time also reflecting the effectiveness of THE KOOSER PROGRAM. Similar to the satisfaction criteria, control showed an improvement on the “emotional health and relationship with co-worker categories”. While participant’s fundamental view of how hearing loss has negatively impacted their lives may not have changed, their responses indicated that THE KOOSER PROGRAM was beneficial to them.

From the 150 additional participants, the overall satisfaction with THE KOOSER PROGRAM was rated at six, or that most participants strongly agree that THE KOOSER PROGRAM is helpful with specific improvement in the emotional health, co-worker relationship, and work/education categories.

In reviewing these items, it appears that the items on “Improvement from THE KOOSER PROGRAM ” are the most direct ones which also demonstrate the effectiveness of the program. Items on the other criteria (such as importance, satisfaction, control, negativity,) all indirectly reflect the benefit of THE KOOSER PROGRAM when examined over time.

Summary

THE KOOSER PROGRAM is different from traditional aural rehabilitation programs. While it includes the standard information regarding audiograms, amplification and communication strategies, it also includes information on the following topics: hearing loss in the workplace, assertiveness skills, self esteem, the emotional impact including grieving, and how hearing loss affects relationships.