Hearing therapists' and audiologists' knowledge of and attitudes towards older adults : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorSeville, Elinor Mary
dc.date.accessioned2016-04-18T04:17:08Z
dc.date.available2016-04-18T04:17:08Z
dc.date.issued2001
dc.description.abstractThe predicted increase in adults over 65 will challenge health and social service providers. Productive ageing, where healthy older adults are encouraged to remain in the workforce for longer, may be a solution. One barrier to this solution may be the negative attitudes many people have towards older adults. Fishbein & Ajzen's, (1975) theory of reasoned action postulates that attitudes are based on beliefs or knowledge and can have an affect on how people behave. Attitudes may also be influenced by such factors as age, gender, experience and, most importantly, the attitudes and beliefs of significant others (subjective norms) (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975. Hearing impairment is the third most limiting chronic condition for older adults (Chen, 1994). In the present study, 15 Hearing therapists and 30 private audiologists in New Zealand completed Palmore's (1998) Facts on Aging Quiz (FAQ), Kogan's (1961) Attitudes towards Old People Scale, a vignette measuring treatment intentions and subjective norms, and gave biographical data. It was hypothesized that audiologists would have higher knowledge levels (FAQ) and more positive attitudes (ATOP) than hearing therapists. Despite the differences in education, there were no significant differences between the two groups in FAQ scores. However, hearing therapists did have more positive attitudes towards older adults. Further analyses suggested that this was a function of gender and possibly education, with less-educated females having more positive attitudes. When considering the two professional groups together, those 40 years old and over had more positive attitudes than those less than 40 years old. It was also hypothesised that, based on the theory of reasoned action, positive attitudes will result in positive treatment (as measured by the vignette) and this relationship will be moderated by subjective norms. Subjective norms were not measurable using the vignette and were not investigated further. While all participants had positive attitudes these did not always result in the most appropriate treatment. It was concluded that a lack of specific gerontological knowledge resulted in less appropriate treatment rather than negative attitudes towards older adults.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10179/7742
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherMassey Universityen_US
dc.rightsThe Authoren_US
dc.subjectAudiologists -- Attitudesen_US
dc.subjectOlder deaf peopleen_US
dc.subjectHearing impaired -- Rehabilitationen_US
dc.titleHearing therapists' and audiologists' knowledge of and attitudes towards older adults : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey Universityen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
massey.contributor.authorSeville, Elinor Maryen_US
thesis.degree.disciplinePsychologyen_US
thesis.degree.grantorMassey Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelMastersen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (M. A.)en_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Thumbnail Image
Name:
01_front.pdf
Size:
1.38 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
Thumbnail Image
Name:
02_whole.pdf
Size:
16.52 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
804 B
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Theses and Dissertations