Hearing Loss

Hearing Loss
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2004-12-17
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0309092965

Millions of Americans experience some degree of hearing loss. The Social Security Administration (SSA) operates programs that provide cash disability benefits to people with permanent impairments like hearing loss, if they can show that their impairments meet stringent SSA criteria and their earnings are below an SSA threshold. The National Research Council convened an expert committee at the request of the SSA to study the issues related to disability determination for people with hearing loss. This volume is the product of that study. Hearing Loss: Determining Eligibility for Social Security Benefits reviews current knowledge about hearing loss and its measurement and treatment, and provides an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the current processes and criteria. It recommends changes to strengthen the disability determination process and ensure its reliability and fairness. The book addresses criteria for selection of pure tone and speech tests, guidelines for test administration, testing of hearing in noise, special issues related to testing children, and the difficulty of predicting work capacity from clinical hearing test results. It should be useful to audiologists, otolaryngologists, disability advocates, and others who are concerned with people who have hearing loss.

Hearing Health Care for Adults

Hearing Health Care for Adults
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2016-10-06
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309439264

The loss of hearing - be it gradual or acute, mild or severe, present since birth or acquired in older age - can have significant effects on one's communication abilities, quality of life, social participation, and health. Despite this, many people with hearing loss do not seek or receive hearing health care. The reasons are numerous, complex, and often interconnected. For some, hearing health care is not affordable. For others, the appropriate services are difficult to access, or individuals do not know how or where to access them. Others may not want to deal with the stigma that they and society may associate with needing hearing health care and obtaining that care. Still others do not recognize they need hearing health care, as hearing loss is an invisible health condition that often worsens gradually over time. In the United States, an estimated 30 million individuals (12.7 percent of Americans ages 12 years or older) have hearing loss. Globally, hearing loss has been identified as the fifth leading cause of years lived with disability. Successful hearing health care enables individuals with hearing loss to have the freedom to communicate in their environments in ways that are culturally appropriate and that preserve their dignity and function. Hearing Health Care for Adults focuses on improving the accessibility and affordability of hearing health care for adults of all ages. This study examines the hearing health care system, with a focus on non-surgical technologies and services, and offers recommendations for improving access to, the affordability of, and the quality of hearing health care for adults of all ages.

Functional Assessment for Adults with Disabilities

Functional Assessment for Adults with Disabilities
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 445
Release: 2019-08-31
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309489385

The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) provides disability benefits through the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. To receive SSDI or SSI disability benefits, an individual must meet the statutory definition of disability, which is "the inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity [SGA] by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months." SSA uses a five-step sequential process to determine whether an adult applicant meets this definition. Functional Assessment for Adults with Disabilities examines ways to collect information about an individual's physical and mental (cognitive and noncognitive) functional abilities relevant to work requirements. This report discusses the types of information that support findings of limitations in functional abilities relevant to work requirements, and provides findings and conclusions regarding the collection of information and assessment of functional abilities relevant to work requirements.

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Author: Joel A. DeLisa
Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Total Pages: 2088
Release: 2005
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780781741309

The gold-standard physical medicine and rehabilitation text is now in its Fourth Edition—with thoroughly updated content and a more clinical focus. More than 150 expert contributors—most of them new to this edition—address the full range of issues in contemporary physical medicine and rehabilitation and present state-of-the-art patient management strategies, emphasizing evidence-based recommendations. This edition has two separate volumes on Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Medicine. Each volume has sections on principles of evaluation and management, management methods, major problems, and specific disorders. Treatment algorithms and boxed lists of key clinical facts have been added to many chapters.

Fundamentals of Audiology for the Speech-Language Pathologist

Fundamentals of Audiology for the Speech-Language Pathologist
Author: Deborah R. Welling
Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Publishers
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2013-10-28
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 144965732X

Fundamentals of Audiology for the Speech-Language Pathologist is specifically written for the speech-language pathologist working with hearing impaired populations. This helpful text incorporates the expertise of audiologists along with the knowledge and experience of speech-language pathologists and combines the theories and training of both disciplines in order to facilitate the practical application of foundational audiologic information into speech language pathology practice. This comprehensive text also covers the type and degree of hearing loss and the resulting auditory, speech, and language difficulties.