Evaluation of the effects of the Listen Up programme training on the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of secondary school students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether knowledge, attitudes and intended behaviours were positively affected by participation in the Listen Up programme training at long term follow up. A secondary aim was to investigate sources of noise exposure, and supports and barriers to use of hearing protection for secondary school students. A third aim was to investigate whether presenting the Listen Up programme to younger students may effectively reinforce learning for the presenters. Finally, the study collected feedback about the training and presenting process, in order to investigate possible ways to improve, modify and potentially further develop the Listen Up training. A quantitative and qualitative method was applied. Questionnaires were administered at pretraining baseline and post-training to students from two secondary schools that had participated in the Listen Up programme training. A modified version of the questionnaire was then administered at follow up, approximately three months after training. The questionnaire consisted of knowledge questions relevant to NIHL and hearing protection strategies, and questions investigating related attitudes and behaviours. A focus group interview was then conducted with volunteer participants from one of the schools in order to investigate how students experienced the training and process of presenting the programme to younger students, and to investigate possible ways to further develop and improve the training in the future. The results of the questionnaires indicated that the Listen Up programme training had positively affected the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of participants and that these effects tended to be sustained at long term follow up. Supports and barriers to use of hearing protection were also influenced by the programme training at follow up. Sources of noise exposure for secondary school students were identified and data about the use of hearing protection devices and hearing protection strategies was also collected. Areas for improvement and further development of the Listen Up programme training were also analysed. The principal conclusion from the study was that the school based Listen Up programme training positively affected the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of participants and that these effects were generally sustained at follow up. Participants likely benefited from both the training and the reinforcement provided by repeated presentation of the Listen Up programme to younger students. Possible modifications, such as interactive hands on stations and peer role modelling group work, may be necessary in order to make the Listen Up programme training more stimulating for secondary students in the future.