Older Adults and Hearing Help-Seeking Behaviors

Purpose: To review the current literature on help seeking for hearing health care among older adults. Method: The authors conducted a literature review regarding help seeking for hearing-related communication difficulties as well as for other chronic medical conditions. Results: Untreated hearing loss can lead to numerous negative secondary consequences; uptake and use of hearing aids remain low, despite the fact that hearing aids provide an effective treatment option for older adults with hearing loss. The authors describe models relevant to understanding the help-seeking and decision-making behaviors of older adults with hearing loss and discuss recommendations for future research. Conclusion: Because of the considerable overlap in factors associated with help-seeking behaviors across chronic medical conditions and because help-seeking behaviors are complex, help seeking should be examined within the framework of a multifactorial model, such as the health belief model or the transtheoretical stages of change model.