Background: Internationally, significant obstacles were reported by adults who are hard of hearing when accessing health care services (Withers & Speight, 2017). When hard-of-hearing individuals encounter difficulties in accessing health care, they tend to avoid seeking or receiving it. It was reported in the 2001 New Zealand Disability Survey that there are about 45,100 (or 21% of total population) adults who have unmet needs for hearing care services.

Aims: The current research examined the experiences of hard-of-hearing adults in accessing hearing care services in New Zealand. Moreover, it identified several facilitators and barriers to receiving hearing care.

Methods: An online survey was developed and conducted using the online survey platform Qualtrics. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered and integrated using a mixed methods research design. Participants were selected through voluntary response sampling. The questionnaire was based on the study conducted by Pandhi et al. (2011) which evaluated how hard-of-hearing older adults perceive health care access. Survey questions were sent to the participants online via email, embedded over a website, or through any social media platform. 72 hard-of-hearing adults aged 18 years and over, who are current residents of New Zealand, anonymously completed this 10-minute survey.

Results: As experienced by adults who are hard of hearing, the main barriers to accessing hearing care services in New Zealand are the very high cost of hearing care, location of hearing care clinic, lack of available information on hearing care, different cultural and gender beliefs, and hearing care provider’s attitude. The high cost of hearing care was identified as the biggest barrier to accessing it. On the other hand, various hearing care funding options from the government, the accessibility and availability of hearing care providers, and clinician’s display of empathy toward the patients, were identified as facilitators to hearing care access. The participants’ hearing and health status also influenced satisfaction to hearing care provided.

Conclusion: Hearing loss is associated with many health issues. Hence, it is vital that adequate and appropriate services are provided to people who are hard-of-hearing to lessen further health risks. Positive hearing healthcare experience is one of the primary determinants of success in providing care. This improves access to health care and promotes better patient participation and compliance which can lead to excellent healthcare outcomes. The information generated from this research may be useful to hearing care professionals in providing better hearing care service to patients.