Understanding Attitudes About Age-Related Hearing Loss and Their Impact on Hearing Aid Uptake

This qualitative study examines how older adults understand and manage age-related hearing loss, with particular attention to social self-concepts, societal beliefs about aging, and experiences that shape hearing health decisions. Research on the intersection of hearing loss, aging, and ageism remains limited, and this study aims to address this gap through in-depth, exploratory qualitative inquiry. The study was initially designed to explore how ageism and stereotype embodiment influence older adults’ experiences of hearing loss and their decisions to seek hearing care. Specifically, the research sought to examine how beliefs about societal stereotypes related to aging may affect perceptions of hearing loss and experiences with hearing aids, both personally and through observations of others. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with older adults to elicit narratives about hearing loss, aging, social interactions, and help-seeking behaviors. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. While ageism and aging-related stereotypes served as sensitizing concepts guiding data collection and early analytic attention, the analytic process remained open to patterns of meaning emerging inductively from the data. The expected outcomes of this study include the identification of themes that illuminate how older adults navigate hearing loss within social and informational contexts, how beliefs about aging are constructed and how these beliefs influence engagement with hearing care. Findings aim to contribute to qualitative research on aging, hearing health, and health communication, with implications for improving education, stigma reduction, and access to hearing care.