Rhinology & Otology

Biography

Biography: Razan AL Fakir

Abstract

Maintaining optimal functioning for the aging population with chronic disorders including hearing disorder is becoming a contemporary therapy in medicine, public health and health professions. Functioning is the integration of all body functions and the individual’s ability to participate in everyday life activities. Functioning refers to the causes of human’s behavior, which are highly influenced by the complex interaction between individual and environment. Understanding the link between functioning and behavior requires a multi-componential approach creating a comprehensive profile of factors that influences behavior. Longitudinal studies showed that aging is accompanied by decline in several domains of functions including sensory, cognition, emotional and social within six years. These findings raised important questions in audiologic rehabilitation: How do older adults with hearing impairment socially interact and function if hearing loss is associated with such deficits? What are the environmental and personal factors that permit elders with hearing loss to continue to interact and function effectively in social life? What changes in audiologic rehabilitation programs are needed to meet these challenges? Obviously, being able to answer these questions require a revolutionary concept analysis and integrative understanding of the comprehensive profile of an individual instead of focusing only on the auditory system. I propose that the use of the WHO-International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (WHO-ICF, 2001) framework and the ICF brief core set for hearing loss will help to investigate the complex relationship between hearing disability and socio-emotional isolation which is a major and prevalent health problem among aging population.