Medicine, Science & Technology

Save The Date!

Saturday, September 26, 2020 for Hear@Boston’s next virtual meeting over Google Meet.  The meeting will be held  4:00 – 6:00  pm to accommodate the still light summer/fall weekend hours and to avoid any possible conflicts with the National’s schedule.

There have been many changes over this summer in leadership and we need to rethink our direction.  Let’s check in with each other and find out how we are all faring going into our 7th month of this pandemic.   Please plan on chapter leadership elections during the meeting.  More details to follow.

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Also, please see the following request from Frequency Therapeutics.  We heard from them earlier in the spring and they presented at the National Convention as well.

Dear friends,

I think many of us would agree that the hearing loss community needs to continue to drive wider awareness of the complexity and challenges of hearing loss. Frequency Therapeutics, the company working on a drug for hearing loss that presented at our meeting back in June, recently completed a survey of HLAA members that looked at the impact of hearing loss on members’ lives and relationships. In the next few weeks, they are going to publicize the results with online and traditional news media.

To make the data come to life, Frequency is looking for one or two people with moderate hearing loss who would be willing to tell their personal story of how they lost their hearing, what some of the challenges are in understanding what’s being said and how they are finding ways to cope – particularly during the pandemic. You would only be asked to share details of your own hearing loss story, and you will not be asked to comment on Frequency or the work they’re doing.

While the company can’t guarantee any media coverage, adding your voice can help educate and inform others while making hearing loss issues more visible.  Please reach out to Suzanne Day at sday@frequencytx.com if you’d be interested in speaking with them.

Announcement by Nicole Laffan about Northeastern’s Free Virtual Aural Rehabilitation Sessions:

“I am an audiologist and a speech-language pathologist at Northeastern University’s Speech, Language, and Hearing Center. I would like to share information about our free aural rehabilitation sessions and our reduced hearing aid program that your members may be interested in.

“We currently provide two virtual aural rehabilitation sessions lasting 1.5-2 hours each via Zoom meetings. The sessions provide personalized training on communication techniques such as anticipatory strategies, using context clues, speech reading, lip reading, and environmental modifications. It also discusses advocacy skills, repair strategies, and tips for communicating during Covid-19. I have attached a flyer for you to view and share.

“Regarding the reduced hearing aid program, patients who qualify would pay $250 for one hearing aid and the remainder of the cost would be funded through the Boston Guild for the Hard of Hearing Endowment.

Thank You,

Nicole Laffan, Au.D., M.S., CCC-A/SLP
Assistant Clinical Professor
Northeastern University | Bouvé College of Health Sciences
503 Behrakis Health Sciences Center | Boston, MA 02115
Office: 1.617.373.2492 | N.Laffan@Northeastern.edu

If you’re wearing teleaudiology-capable hearing aids, and have a compatible Android or iOS device, you may already have access to remote care. Refer to our comprehensive list of available solutions to find out if you have the right technology to get help from home. Read more

Here are some recent press releases that caught our attention:

• “ReSound Assist Live” Provides At-Home Access to Hearing Aids 
• Beltone Introduces Hearing Care “Video Visits” via Beltone Remote Care Live
• FDA Expedites Approval of Cochlear’s Remote Check Solution for Cochlear Implants
• Starkey Hearing Care Anywhere Now Available for All Livio Models
• Redux Dryer Receives 2020 Edison Award for Innovation
• Starkey Donates 80,000 Masks to Healthcare Workers
• HLAA2020 Convention is Cancelled
• Phonak boosts support for hearing care professionals amid COVID-19 pandemic

In this article in the March/April 2017 issue of Hearing Loss Magazine,  editor Dave Hutchinson offers a compelling description of the impact of the NAS study on the affordability and accessibility of hearing healthcare in the United States.

The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas January 5-8 honored two new hearing aids with awards for innovation.

Both communicate with other smart devices, a technology that already exists in other hearing aids.

But, unusually, these are for those with severe to profound hearing loss, a niche market not often addressed.

Both of these hearing aids, the ReSound Enzo pictured above and the Oticon Opn, won CES innovation awards for their ability to connect to a user’s other smart devices, including phones, tablets and even household devices such as smoke alarms. The Oticon Opn, according to the manufacturer, “can be programmed to talk directly with doorbells, smoke detectors and other smart devices.”

Actually, it’s the other way around: These devices talk to the hearing aid. Your smart doorbell, smoke alarm, lighting, safety equipment and appliances can be programmed to send a signal through your hearing aid to let you know, for example, that someone’s at the door or that the smoke detector has gone off. As Victoria Woollaston wrote in Wired , “Missing vital sounds like smoke alarms can be a matter of life and death.”  [Full story]