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Employees with hearing impairment. A qualitative study exploring managers’ experiences

VIGRESTAD SVINNDAL, Elisabeth
JENSEN, Chris
BY RISE, Marit
January 2019

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Purpose: Explore managers’ experiences regarding employees with hearing impairments.

 

Materials and methods: Individual interviews with ten managers having employees with hearing impairment. The interviews were analyzed using Systematic text condensation.

 

Results: The managers felt great responsibility for their employees’ functioning, but hearing loss issues were easily forgotten. They found access to information as imperative to secure workplace adjustments, and temporary needs, rather than permanent ones, were easily met. Despite their challenging nature, meetings were not accommodated to meet hearing loss needs. Support in accommodation processes at the workplace was not requested since minor adjustments were perceived as sufficient.

 

Conclusion: The results show that there are barriers towards developing less strenuous working conditions for employees with hearing impairments. The implications of hearing loss should be recognized as risk factors for fatigue and treated accordingly. Appropriate services are necessary to support the stakeholders at the workplace and utilize the room for manoeuver in the accommodation process. Further studies should identify how such services can accommodate both the employees, and managers’ needs.

The Family and Disability in Ghana: Highlighting Gaps in Achieving Social Inclusion

OPOKU, Maxwell Peprah
ALUPO, Beatrice Atim
GYAMFI, Naomi
ODAME, Lois
MPRAH, Wisdom Kwadwo
TORGBENU, Eric Lawer
BADU, Eric
2018

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Purpose: There are social and environmental barriers faced by persons with disabilities which have been reported in literature. In discussing these barriers, attention is yet to be given to the support from families to members with disabilities. This study aimed to examine family support and its impact on the lives of persons with disabilities in Ghana.

 

Methods: The study participants were 48 persons with disabilities - physical, hearing and visual disabilities - who were members of Disabled Peoples’ Organisations. They were conveniently drawn from 4 districts in the Northern region of Ghana.

 

Results: The study found that the families of the participants did not give them adequate support to access services that would improve their lives. For instance, limited access to education resulted in inability of participants to secure  jobs.

 

Conclusion: Without the primary support of the family, persons with disabilities might be unable to break down social barriers due to their inability to access education and other developmentally useful services. The implication of the study for policy-making has been discussed extensively.

Assessing Parental Role as Resource Persons in Achieving Goals of Early Detection and Intervention for Children with Hearing Impairment

ANSARI, M S
2014

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Early detection and intervention for any degree of hearing loss is critical to the linguistic, social and educational development of children with auditory deficit. Since parents and family members are in a position to identify hearing loss at an early stage, they can play a vital role in achieving the goals of early identification and intervention for their children.

 

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine the age at which parents and significant others begin to suspect hearing impairmentin their children, and to advocate for using them as resource persons in the early detection of hearing loss.

 

Method: Parents of children with hearing impairment were retrospectively surveyed and interviewed to determine the age at which suspicion, diagnosis, fitting of amplification and initiation of interventions occurred.

 

Results: Interviews revealed the average age to be 16.5, 24.3, 31.7 and 33.4 months, for suspicion, diagnosis, fitting of amplification and initiation of early intervention for hearing loss respectively. The obtained age of suspicion is lower than the age of identification of hearing loss reported in Indian literature. The current study found delays in diagnosis and fitting of amplification, both of which are essential to initiate early remedial programmes which facilitate development of speech and language skills in children with hearing impairment. Surprisingly, it was found that these delays were caused by professional failures.

 

Conclusion: It is emphasised that parents are in the best position to detect hearing problems in their children, and can be effectively utilised as manpower/ equal partners in achieving the goal of early identification of hearing loss. The study outlines appropriate ways and means to facilitate early identification and provide effective intervention for children with hearing impairment.

Knowledge and use of contraceptive methods amongst deaf people in Ghana

MPRAH, Wisdom K
2013

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Background: Persons with disabilities in general face serious barriers to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services due to institutional and attitudinal barriers. However, because deaf people have unique communication and linguistic needs, which are often misunderstood or ignored, they face greater barriers than other persons with disabilities. Whilst available data indicated that there is a wide gap between knowledge and usage of contraceptive amongst Ghanaians, little is known about the level of contraceptive knowledge and usage amongst deaf people.

 

Objectives: The objective of the study was to investigate the level of knowledge and use of contraceptive methods amongst deaf people in Ghana with the aim of understanding their contraceptive behaviour and to improve access.

 

Method: The study was a participatory SRH needs assessment utilising a two-phase, sequential, mixed methods design. The study included 179 participants, consisting of focus groups with seven executives of Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD), 10 male deaf adults, and 9 deaf female adults. A total of 152 deaf people, made up of students, women, and men participated in a survey, whilst one hearing person served as a key informant.

 

Results: The findings of the study indicated that of the 13 methods shown in the survey, only three were known to about 70% of the adults and 60% of the students. Level of knowledge of the remaining nine methods was low.

 

Conclusion: Clear and effective policies are needed to guide the provision of SRH information and services for deaf people in Ghana.

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