We already knew that hearing aids had great personal benefits. The right hearing aid can not only help your conversations run smoothly, it can save your life.
But can hearing aids help save the economy?
That’s what a UF professor whose work helped develop the project is saying. Alice Holmes, a professor in UF’s Department of Communicative Disorders at the College of Public Health and Health Professions, has worked with other UF researchers to pioneer a new type of hearing aid.
This hearing aid is programmed not to the tonal beeps of past hearing aids, but rather to be responsive to speech sounds such as “ata” and “aba.”
It is Holmes’ contention that many people, especially in an older state like Florida, are prematurely forced out of the workforce by poor hearing. A scant 20 percent of the 31 million Americans with hearing loss that could be benefited by the use of an aid actually take advantage of hearing aid technology, some no doubt frustrated by ill-fitting or unhelpful hearing aids.
Furthermore, by allowing hearing aids to be programmed more quickly and efficiently, the new technology hopes not only provide a lifestyle benefit to the patients, but an economic boon to the audiology clinics. Hearing loss ranks second to only arthritis as a permanent disability in the older community, Holmes says.
As hearing aid technology gets better, and better, we continue to reap benefits. This additional potential boost to the economy is a welcome one.
Tags: digital hearing aid, digital hearing aids, hearing aid, hearing aids, hearing technology, innovative technology, UF
