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Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education Advance Access originally published online on February 1, 2006
The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 2006 11(2):252-261; doi:10.1093/deafed/enj028
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Empirical Articles

Hearing Dogs: A Longitudinal Study of Social and Psychological Effects on Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Recipients

Claire M. Guest

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, United Kingdom

Glyn M. Collis and June McNicholas

University of Warwick

The organization Hearing Dogs for Deaf People provides assistance dogs that alert their deaf or hard-of-hearing recipients to key sounds, thus increasing their independence and also providing companionship. Fifty-one recipients took part in a longitudinal study to monitor the dogs' working performance over time and to examine the social and psychological effects of having a Hearing Dog. The Profile of Mood State (POMS) questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) were used together with a Hearing Dog Questionnaire (HDQ) specifically developed for this study. There were a number of significant differences in measures of well-being between the period prior to placing the Hearing Dog and the period after placement, but there were no comparable differences during the year-long waiting period prior to placement of the dog. Recipients reported significant reductions in hearing-related problems such as response to environmental sounds; significant reductions in measures of tension, anxiety, and depression; and significant improvements in social involvement and independence. The longitudinal nature of this study supports evidence that these improvements persist for some time after the placement of a dog, with significant differences being reported, in many cases, up to 18 months after acquiring a dog.

1 In the UK, assistance dogs refers to Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Canine Partners, Dogs for the Disabled, and Support Dogs, whereas service dogs refers to dogs used by military and police forces. In the United States, service dogs are defined as assistance dogs.

Correspondence should be sent to Claire M. Guest, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, The Grange, Wycombe Road, Saunderton, Princes Risborough, Bucks HP27 9NS, United Kingdom (e-mail: cmguest{at}hearing-dogs.co.uk).

Received October 10, 2005; revised December 22, 2005; accepted December 24, 2005


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