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Subject Area

Counseling, Health Care, Psychology, Rehabilitation Counseling, Social Work

Abstract

Few studies have explored self-efficacy training with persons with hearing loss (PHLs), yet alone with their communication partners (CPs). The purpose of this mixed-method study was to examine the impact of self-efficacy training as a framework for an Interprofessional Psychosocial Group Aural Rehabilitation (IPGAR) workshop with PHLs and their CPs. Four PHLs and their four CPs consented to participate in the IPGAR workshop that employed interventions including short lectures, psychosocial exercises, communication strategies training, speech perception training, adaptive/stress reduction exercises, and group discussions relevant to mutually established shared goals for each couple. The participants reported improved communication abilities in the majority of the skills assessed via the post-IPGAR workshop evaluation measure resulting in a competent and efficacious communication skill set both individually and as a couple. Three overarching themes emerged from the analysis of the participants’ comments from the workshop evaluation: (a) education, skill training, and practice: mastery experience; (b) learning from role models and each other: vicarious experience; and (c) increased communication self-efficacy as an individual and as a couple. Moreover, a pre- and post-workshop design was employed using the Self-Efficacy for Situational Communication Management Questionnaire (SESMQ) for PHLs to rate their self-efficacy and a modified SESMQ-Proxy for CPs to rate their perception of their partner’s self-efficacy. The findings indicated that the CPs viewed their spouses as more confident on the self-efficacy subscale than their partners did in managing communication situations.

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