Increasing telephone accessibility for workers with hearing loss: a scoping review with recommendations

A scoping review was undertaken to identify strategies which increase telephone accessibility for workers with hearing loss.

The scoping review protocol outlined by the Joanna Brigg’s Institute was used. Terms relating to hearing loss, telephones, and management strategies were searched in CINAHL, MEDLINE, and Web of Science. An additional hand search was also conducted for two journals and two publications from consumer organisations as they were known to publish relevant articles. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to the resulting 1086 texts. Strategies from the selected texts were organised into categories through thematic analyses.

Study sample: Eighty-four texts were included in the review.

The effective telephone strategies fall into the following categories: amplifying the telephone signal, reducing background noise, listening to the telephone through both ears, accessing text-based supports to understanding telephone speech, using Internet-based telephony, optimising mobile phones, improving telephone skills and communication strategies, and requesting accommodation in the workplace.

Strategies exist by which the telephone can be made more accessible to workers with hearing loss. These have the potential to benefit both workers and their employers.