OBJECTIVES: Adults with hearing loss (HL) may experience stigma, which can reduce help-seeking and may contribute to social isolation and psychological distress. Perceptions of HL and hearing devices vary across cultural contexts, underscoring the importance of examining cultural influences on stigma....
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
Audiologists should routinely consider a patient's cultural background when addressing hearing-aid uptake barriers, as culturally driven stigma is a meaningful and modifiable driver of help-seeking delay and psychosocial harm.
Quantifying how cultural stigma varies and predicts help-seeking and wellbeing outcomes supports the development of culturally tailored counselling and public health strategies to reduce persistent undertreatment of hearing loss globally.
- 01Cultural background significantly shapes how stigma around hearing loss is perceived and experienced.
- 02Stigma is associated with reduced help-seeking, social isolation, and greater psychological distress in adults with hearing loss.
- 03Published in Ear and Hearing, the field's leading peer-reviewed journal, lending methodological credibility.
- 04Findings underscore the need for culturally sensitive counselling approaches in audiology practice.
- 05Implications extend to public awareness campaigns and hearing-aid adoption strategies across diverse populations.
Cultural variations in stigma toward hearing loss affect help-seeking behavior in adults with hearing loss.
studysupportedHearing-loss stigma is associated with social isolation and increased psychological distress.
studysupported- PMID
- 42980575
- DOI
- 10.1097/AUD.0000000000001908.
- Journal
- Ear and Hearing
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 2b
- Population
- Adults with hearing loss from culturally diverse backgrounds
- Intervention
- Assessment of cultural variations in hearing-loss stigma
Primary outcomes
Help-seeking behavior; Social isolation; Psychological distress
