Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Sep;31(3):656-668.
doi: 10.1044/2022_AJA-21-00272. Epub 2022 Jun 23.

Audiology, Medicine, and Pharmacy Interprofessional Preliminary Interviews and Discussions: Improving Hearing Health Care in Rural Alabama

Emma B Brothers  1 , Marcia J Hay-McCutcheon  1 , Peter J Hughes  2 , M Louanne Friend  3
Affiliations

Audiology, Medicine, and Pharmacy Interprofessional Preliminary Interviews and Discussions: Improving Hearing Health Care in Rural Alabama

Emma B Brothers et al. Am J Audiol. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Purpose: Access and affordability of hearing health care varies depending on residency and individual financial means. Those living in rural areas have limited health care resources and experience higher levels of poverty compared to those living in urban regions. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of interprofessional collaboration among physicians and audiologists and pharmacists and audiologists to improve access and affordability of hearing health care in rural communities.

Method: Sixteen family physicians and medicine residents and 15 community pharmacists participated in the study. Physicians and residents completed an online survey to assess education regarding hearing health care and their understanding of hearing loss intervention. They also participated in small virtual focus group discussions. Pharmacists participated in virtual discussions based on guided questions.

Results: The discussions with both physicians and pharmacists highlighted the need for more education, resources, and awareness of the negative impact of hearing loss on overall quality of life. Comments from these discussions were placed within the socio-ecological model of health behavior to increase understanding of hearing health behavior.

Conclusions: Increased collaboration among medical professionals has the potential to improve access to hearing health care for those living in audiologically underserved regions of the country. Further research will identify how to increase effective and sustainable hearing health care resources in rural communities.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The socio-ecological model of hearing health care behavior including features of the Community and Society domains obtained from focus group discussions of the study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alhusein, N. , & Watson, M. C. (2019). Quality indicators and community pharmacy services: A scoping review. The International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, 27(6), 490–500. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpp.12561 - PMC - PubMed
    1. American Academy of Family Physicians. (2021). Primary care. https://www.aafp.org/about/policies/all/primary-care.html
    1. American Pharmacists Association Foundation and American Pharmacists Association. (2013). Consortium recommendations for advancing pharmacists' patient care services and collaborative practice agreements. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, 53(2), e132–e141. https://doi.org/10.1331/JAPhA.2013.12211 - PubMed
    1. Arlinger, S. (2003). Negative consequences of uncorrected hearing loss–a review. International Journal Of Audiology, 42(Suppl. 2), 2S17–2S20. https://doi.org/10.3109/14992020309074639 - PubMed
    1. Austin, D. F. , Konrad-Martin, D. , Griest, S. , McMillan, G. P. , McDermott, D. , & Fausti, S. (2009). Diabetes-related changes in hearing. The Laryngoscope, 119(9), 1788–1796. https://doi.org/10.1002/lary.20570 - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources