Adult client perspectives of barriers and facilitators to successfully communicating about listening needs and concerns during audiology appointments: a qualitative study

This study aimed to understand clients’ perspectives on the barriers and facilitators experienced when communicating about their listening needs and concerns with their audiologist. Qualitative descriptive methodology using individual semi-structured interviews. Template analysis was used to analyse the data. Fifteen audiology clients who self-reported listening difficulties. Six themes relating to barriers and/or facilitators were identified: (1) audiologist’s communication style, (2) audiologist’s demonstrations of understanding, (3) development of therapeutic relationship, (4) client’s awareness and understanding, (5) client’s personality and lifestyle characteristics and (6) clinic’s operational factors. Identified barriers and facilitators suggest that audiologists should tailor their communication style for individual clients and invest in developing strong therapeutic relationships. Supporting clients’ awareness and understanding can be achieved through improved appointment preparation, such as by encouraging client self-reflection on their listening needs and concerns and providing information about appointment expectations. Audiology clinics should consider all aspects of their service provision and how these relate to communication during appointments. An intervention approach addressing these reported barriers and facilitators could support clients to successfully communicate about their listening needs and concerns with their audiologist.