Evaluation of follow-up services for elderly people prescribed hearing aids: report of a pilot project

The first stage of a programme to determine the effectiveness of different types of follow-up service for elderly people prescribed hearing aids is described. Follow-up sessions of two hours each were held at fortnightly intervals and were given to groups comprising six patients. Three treatments were compared, one consisting of two follow-up sessions, the second of four sessions, and the third none (the control group). Two groups received each treatment. The results failed to demonstrate any advantage from the treatments. The men, who were more handicapped by their hearing loss, did better than women and there was a predominance of men in the control groups. The necessity of some follow-up service was demonstrated since a substantial proportion of patients were not utilising their aids satisfactorily at six months after issue and had problems which were then resolved. Any follow-up programme must concentrate very heavily on basic handling and maintenance of the aid, for most of the difficulties experienced were with these.