Utilizing Telehealth to Improve Hearing Aid Skills and Knowledge: A Student–Clinician Perspective

The purpose of the original research study was two-fold: to analyze the effectiveness of remote care provided to adult hearing aid patients and to explore the responsiveness of the HASKI to intervention. After reviewing the preliminary quantitative data, it was evident that the qualitative elements of the HASKI required examination. Therefore, this portion of the research study focuses on the student-clinician perspective including evaluating data trends, considering possible rationales for results, and critiquing the HASKI based on the collected data. Overall, this study demonstrates that the HASKI may help clinicians target areas of need for patients, but can be improved for use in a teleaudiology format. Initially, the participants were contacted via email or phone to recruit them to participate in the research study; the consenting participants were then sent a HASKI to complete electronically. The HASKI was converted into a computer and mobile friendly form (Figure 1). The results of this survey served as HASKI 1 scores. After completion of the HASKI, the participants were scheduled for a tele-aural rehabilitation session, where each participant met with the audiologist and graduate student clinicians for at least one session that lasted for 60 minutes (Figure 2). Fourteen days following the tele-aural rehabilitation session, the participants received a request to complete the HASKI again. The results of this survey served as HASKI 2 scores