Communication in the digital workplace – effect on participation for individuals with hearing impairment and deafness

Half of the Swedish population with hearing impairment or deafness are of working age and are, as a group, disadvantaged in the workplace, primarily due to inaccessible communication.

Higher perceived communication effort, lower participation, and more distress-related sick leave, leading to greater socio-economic cost have been observed.

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a fast transition into a digital workplace with increased digital communication, such as online meetings, and working from home.

Communication support (e.g., hearing aids, technical assistive devices, and environmental modifications) are often adapted/tailored to the individual’s need at the physical workplace and may have less value when communicating via digital media or when working from home. This may have negative effects on participation in work-related communication.

The purpose of the proposed project is to explore how the move toward more digital communication and working from home during the covid-19 pandemic has impacted participation in work-related communication in adult individuals with hearing impairment or deafness.

The study will use a mixed-methods design conducted in two phases, with phase 1 consisting of questionnaire data and phase 2 of in-depth interviews.

We will recruit 300 participants with various degrees of hearing impairment or deafness, various degrees of hearing assistive devices use, and different modes of communication (spoken and signed) in phase 1. Out of the 300 participants, at least 52 will also take part in phase 2.

By using this design, we will generate generalizable findings for this group (phase 1) that will allow us to gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences of the participants (phase 2).

The results from the proposed project will be important for guiding the development of an inclusive digital workplace, labor- and clinical policies, as well as advising the development of assistive hearing devices compatible with digital communication.