Effect of COVID-19 restrictions on communication strategies adopted by older hearing aid users

Purpose Communication strategies play a crucial role for hearing-impaired individuals and their reliance on these strategies has become more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbating communication difficulties due to measures like face masks and social distancing. The purpose of this study is to compare the usage of communication strategies during pre-COVID, inter-COVID and post-COVID conditions among the elderly. Design/methodology/approach To identify the use of communication strategies by the elderly, the authors used a questionnaire developed by Tye-Murray (1992). All 22 participants with hearing loss responded to the 23-item questionnaire during and post-COVID-19 periods with pre-COVID-19 filling based on recall. Findings During the COVID period, participants strongly embraced repair and corrective strategies, such as sentence repetition. However, in the post-COVID period, results varied, indicating a less consistent pattern in strategy preference. The test of residual analysis revealed significant differences in strategy usage across conditions, with pre-COVID and inter-COVID conditions playing a more influential role in overall group difference, than the post-COVID period. This research revealed no talker-based or gender-based differences in strategy usage. Research limitations/implications Some of the scenarios in the questionnaire were uncommon in Indian contexts and hence similar culturally appropriate scenarios were described to the participants to relate it better. Originality/value The findings of this study may be used in providing awareness and training to the elderly with hearing loss on using various communication strategies and improving quality of life in general as well as during pandemics.