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Development and preliminary evaluation of a German version of the active communication education group aural
Sybille Seybold1, Frauke Koppelin1, Nerina Scarinci2
1Jade University of Applied Sciences, Department of Construction Geoinformation Health Technology, Section Technology and Health for Humans, Oldenburg, Germany.
Objective:
This study investigated the effectiveness of a German version of the Active Communication Education (ACE) program.
Research Design:
An exploratory cohort study was conducted with pre-post measures of communication strategy use, acceptance, activity and participation, health-related quality of life, anxiety, and depression. Post-program measures also included the International Outcome Inventory - Alternative Interventions (IOI-AI), a modified version of the Client Oriented Scale of Improvement (M-COSI), and open-ended questions.
Study Sample:
Thirty older adults with acquired hearing loss (M age = 70.27, SD = 5.77) attended three or more ACE sessions.
Intervention:
The ACE program consisted of five, weekly 2 h group sessions with 6 to 10 participants.
Data Collection And Analysis:
Pre-post self-report measures were completed pre-program, after two weeks, and 6 months post-program. Within-group changes and effect sizes were calculated. The IOI-AI results were descriptively analysed. Categories for the M-COSI and open-ended data were analysed using the qualitative method of summarizing-content analysis.
Results:
Statistically significant within-group improvements were found for communication strategy use and acceptance of hearing loss. The IOI-AI showed a positive impact of ACE on activity and participation. The majority of participants (83.3%) reported improvement in their primary communication goal.
Conclusion:
The German version of the ACE program showed positive benefits for adults with hearing loss and can be recommended as a rehabilitative intervention for the target population.
