Empowerment in hearing rehabilitation: translation of self-advocacy checklists

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To translate and cross-culturally adapt to Brazilian Portuguese four instruments for assessing self-advocacy skills of users of electronic hearing devices: the “I can” Self-Advocacy Checklist and three versions of the Audiology Self-Advocacy Checklist (ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, MIDDLE SCHOOL and HIGH SCHOOL).

Methods

The translation process was adapted from the guidelines of Beaton et al. (2000). The prefinal version was pre-tested in two groups. Group 1 (G1) was composed of 14 teachers of adolescents with hearing loss. Group 2 (G2) was composed of 15 adolescent patients with hearing loss, electronic assistive device users, who use oral language as their primary form of communication.

Results

The instruments were translated as Checklist de autoadvocacia “Eu consigo” e Checklists de Autoadvocacia em Audiologia - Ensino Fundamental I, Ensino Fundamental II and Ensino Médio. G1 did not report difficulties regarding the terms used in the checklists; however, they reported difficulties completing the student’s progress. The audiologists who used the checklists to interview G2 did not report difficulties regarding the use of the instrument. Therefore, after pre-testing the prefinal version, there was no need to make changes to the instruments, which were then presented as the final version.

Conclusion

All Self-Advocacy Checklists were translated and cross-culturally adapted into Brazilian Portuguese and are valid instruments to measure the self-advocacy skills of students with hearing loss in a clinical context.

Keywords
Translating; Questionnaires; Self-Help Devices; Hearing Loss; Empowerment