This Week in Hearing

Even though OTC devices don’t exist yet as an FDA-regulated product category, direct-to-consumer hearing devices have existed for decades. In this week’s episode of This Week in Hearing Brian Taylor interviews Professor Sterling Sheffield of the University of Florida. Sterling has authored soon-to-be-published research comparing DTC devices to medical grade hearing aids. During the interview, Sterling also shares some results that may surprise you.

In addition to his studies in this area, Professor Sheffield provides valuable insights on how both hearing care professionals and consumers should approach an evolving hearing care market that includes OTC devices.

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This week, host Bob Traynor sits down with Mike Halloran, the president of Beltone. As the nation’s leading hearing care retailer, Beltone has been paving the way in the hearing care industry for 82 years and has a network of 1,500 locations.  

Being part of the Beltone network allows owners to remain independent while also being part of something bigger. Beltone welcomes and encourages hearing care professionals to join their continuously growing network as they provide the systems, platforms, and support needed to generate leads and help owners and clinicians be more successful. Some of these perks include exclusive access to innovative Beltone technology and to the Elevate team, a group at Beltone who work closely with participating owners to help them grow in all aspects of their business and marketing.   For professionals interested to learn more about Beltone, please visit: http://www.ownabeltone.com/en-us/ 

Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest episodes each week, and follow This Week in Hearing on LinkedIn and Twitter:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/this-week-in-hearing/ https://twitter.com/WeekinHearing

This week, host Dave Kemp chats with Gael Hannan and Shari Eberts about living well with hearing loss. They discuss the motivation behind their new book, Hear & Beyond: Live Skillfully with Hearing loss, which they wrote as a how-to-guide for living successfully with hearing loss.   

The pair believe it could not only benefit people in their hearing loss journey, but also add value to hearing professionals.  The book is now available for purchase - further details available here: http://hearandbeyond.com/ 

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Computational audiology is defined as the augmentation of traditional hearing healthcare by digital methods, including artificial intelligence and machine learning.  This week, host Dave Kemp sits down with Jan-Willem Wasmann to talk about the potential of computational audiology to help more people in need of hearing healthcare service across the globe, and how it can help further improve the precision and efficiency of audiological care in general.  

Interested professionals can visit the Computational Audiology Network website for more details: https://computationalaudiology.com/ 

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TympaHealth, a UK-based startup, is premised on enabling people to access ear and health services quickly and efficiently. Their innovative technology enables allied healthcare professionals with an all-in-one mobile technology, Tympa System, that delivers otoscopy, micro suction wax removal, and hearing screener services. These services are then available in care settings such as pharmacies, optician offices, residential care homes, and general practitioner offices. 

In this episode of This Week in Hearing, host, Amyn Amlani, chats with TympaHealth CEO and Founder, Dr. Krishan Ramdoo, about the motivation for the concept, their service delivery model, and the positive patient outcomes that their Tympa System has delivered nationally and internationally.

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This week we tackle cell and gene therapy for hearing loss. To help us better understand the potential of allogeneic cell therapy we asked Brian Culley, CEO of Lineage Cell Therapeutics to describe how it works and how these types of pharmacologic treatments could stand side-by-side existing treatments such as hearing aids and cochlear implants.

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This week, celebrity influencer and hearing advocate, Heather Thomson sits down with Shari Eberts to address the challenges and blessings of navigating hearing loss in children and empowering her son to own his hearing health as he enters adulthood. 

Heather recently partnered with ReSound to raise awareness of the hearing loss stigma surrounding young adults and adolescents. During her time on The Real Housewives of New York City, Heather shared with fans her son Jax's health struggles, including a rare liver condition, severe food allergies, chronic lung issues, and hearing loss. Jax was recently fitted with ReSound One hearing aids and is enjoying greater hearing in all environments.  

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About GN ReSound

ReSound hearing aids, available from leading hearing care professionals, continue to set worldwide standards for quality and intuitive technology to help people with hearing loss communicate better than ever before. Take a free online hearing test at ReSound.com or contact a hearing care professional to schedule a hearing test.

Take the test: https://www.resound.com/en-us/online-hearing-test

If you are a member of the American Academy of Audiology, and you have yet to cast your vote for president-elect, this special episode of This Week in Hearing is well worth your time.   

Both candidates, Bopanna Ballachandra and Rebekah Cunningham, sat down with TWIH to chat about their career paths and the vision they have for the profession.   

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From picking a restaurant on a Saturday night to choosing a new dentist, all of us seem to rely more and more on online reviews.

In this episode of This Week in Hearing, Vinaya Manchaiah, professor at the University of Colorado Medical School talks us through the consumer on-line review research his team of collaborators have conducted over the past few years.

Be sure to subscribe to the TWIH YouTube channel for the latest episodes each week and follow This Week in Hearing on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Articles cited in this episode:

Bennett RJ, Swanepoel W, Ratinaud P, Bailey A, Pennebaker JW, Manchaiah V. Hearing aid acquisition and ownership: what can we learn from online consumer reviews?. Int J Audiol. 2021;60(11):917-926.

Manchaiah V, Bennett RJ, Ratinaud P, Swanepoel W. Experiences With Hearing Health Care Services: What Can We Learn From Online Consumer Reviews?. Am J Audiol. 2021;30(3):745-754.

Manchaiah V, Swanepoel W, Bailey A, Pennebaker JW, Bennett RJ. Hearing Aid Consumer Reviews: A Linguistic Analysis in Relation to Benefit and Satisfaction Ratings. Am J Audiol. 2021;30(3):761-768

Manchaiah V, Picou EM, Bailey A, Rodrigo H. Consumer Ratings of the Most Desirable Hearing Aid Attributes. J Am Acad Audiol. 2021;32(8):537-546. doi:10.1055/s-0041-1732442

Kim Fishman is a long time practice owner in the suburban Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul. In this episode of This Week in Hearing, she shares her new business venture, which combines in-person care with an on-line store, as well as a co-op membership for consumers. 

Kim also shares her passion for ethical practice and the importance of transparency. To learn more about her business, go to https://hearshearingandhearables.com/

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