MOTIVATION OF POTENTIAL FIRST TIME HEARING AID USERS

Nielsen C.

Eriksholm Oticon Research Centre. Denmark

Several studies have shown that there are many non adopters of hearing aids and that the proportion of these non-adopters has remained unchanged for years. Thus, a remarkable number of hearing-impaired people are hesitant and wait several years before seeking help, despite the recent advances in hearing-aid technology. Therefore it is an attractive idea to apply some sort of ‘preconditioning’ to motivate the hearing-impaired person to take action and to become better prepared for a future hearing-aid fitting process. In this presentation a process model of motivation of potential hearing-aid users is presented. Coaching concepts have been used as an important part of the model. Self-reflection and activation of unconscious knowledge are the key elements in the coaching sessions. An explorative study was carried out using the motivation model. Experiences based on 10 people who went through the motivation process will be presented and discussed.

E-mail: cni@oticon.dk