Objective: Patient-centred care is a term frequently associated with quality health care. Despite extensive literature from a range of health-care professions that provide description and measurement of patient-centred care, a definition of patient-centredness in audiological rehabilitation is lacking. The current study aimed to define patient-centred care specific to audiological rehabilitation from the perspective of older adults who have owned hearing aids for at least one year.
Design: Research interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of older adults concerning their perceptions of patient-centredness in audiological rehabilitation, and qualitative content analysis was undertaken.
Study sample: The participant sample included ten adults over the age of 60 years who had owned hearing aids for at least one year.
Results: Data analysis revealed three dimensions to patient-centred audiological rehabilitation: the therapeutic relationship, the players (audiologist and patient), and clinical processes. Individualised care was seen as an overarching theme linking each of these dimensions.
Conclusions: This study reported two models: the first model describes what older adults with hearing aids believe constitutes patient-centred audiological rehabilitation. The second provides a guide to operationalised patient-centred care. Further research is required to address questions pertaining to the presence, nature, and impact of patient-centred audiological rehabilitation.