Living with Hearing Difficulties – The process of Enablement

The thirteen chapters encompass four sections which broadly follow the categories of the World Health Organization's ICF (2001):

• Section 1 addresses types of hearing disorders, the impairments they cause and also the process of help seeking.
• Section 2 deals with the effects of hearing impairment on communication and psychosocial functioning.
• Section 3 considers the individual in their environment; their family, work, and leisure. Section 4 elaborates on the process of enablement in a non-prescriptive manner.

The authors approach the problems and needs from the standpoint of what the patient/client is seeking. Enablement is seen as a team effort between the professionals, the patient and their family in an ever-changing environment. This entails using any relevant techniques to ensure the well-being of the individual with hearing impairment; that end remains very much their goal.

The book also has a companion website www.wiley.com/go/stephens which hosts additional downloadable documents as well as a demonstration of the concept of the signal-to-noise ratio.