The relationship between participation in a hearing aid orientation program and the need for walk-in hearing aid clinic services

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2013-04-22

Department

Towson University. Department of Audiology, Speech-Language Pathology and Deaf Studies

Program

Citation of Original Publication

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Abstract

One of the anticipated outcomes of the Hearing Aid Orientation Program (HOP) at the Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC) in Baltimore, Maryland was a reduction in the number of hearing aid walk-in clinic visits. This study was conducted to evaluate if there was a difference in the number of walk-in clinic visits between 30 veterans who opted to attend a HOP and 30 veterans who chose not to attend. The data were analyzed for differences between the HOP and non-HOP groups, for reasons the patients went to walk-in clinic, and for other factors that may have affected the number of walk-in hearing aid clinic visits. No statistically significant difference was found between the number of walk-in clinic visits for HOP and non-HOP veterans. There was a statistically significant difference in the number of walk-in clinic visits between patients who paid for hearing aids and those who received free hearing aids.