New Advances in Digital Hearing Aids Can Help Baby
Boomers Take Matters into Their Own Hands
By Delain Wright
Editor: The next few years will be really interesting, as baby boomers
become a more significant factor in the hearing aid market. Will they
insist on more control over how they buy and adjust hearing aids? Will
they cause the industry to offer over-the-counter hearing aids? Here's
Delain Wright with his opinions on what effect they might have.
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Whether it's using online banking, buying a new car, or being involved
in health issues such as choosing digital hearing aids, today's baby
boomers are all about taking control and doing things themselves, at their
own convenience. The members of this generation have the desire and the
ability to use the Internet comfortably, allowing them to research hearing
aid technology on their own. This is something that separates them from
past generations who may have simply gone to their doctors and been handed
answers. Baby boomers want to research their medical issues. They have
confidence in their own judgment and want to ask questions and be involved
in any decisions that need to be made.
Since the baby boomer generation is aging, many people in this category
are finding that they suffer from mild to moderate hearing loss and may,
for the first time, need a hearing aid to compensate for that loss.
Today's digital hearing aids are much more user friendly and hearing aid
technology has advanced to the point that users can take a more hands-on
approach to the fitting and adjustment of their aids.
New Hearing Aid Technology Puts the User in Control
In the past, when patients needed adjustments to their digital hearing
aids, they had to travel to an audiologist's or representative's office
and discuss any issues regarding the hearing aid's performance.
Adjustments would be made by the audiologist and the patient would leave
the office, testing out the new settings in the real world. Each time
additional adjustments were required, the patient would have to return to
the audiologist's office - visits that could take up an extensive amount
of time and possibly cost money if the vendor limited the number of free
adjustments.
However, hearing aid technology has changed, and programming software
is now available that can be used by either the audiologist or the
consumer. Patients can choose to program the device themselves in their
own homes using consumer-friendly software, or they can have the
programming software send the results of queries via the Internet to the
audiologist's office where the hearing aid can be adjusted for the
patient. Plus, this latest hearing aid technology allows the software to
be more intuitive and more user friendly than programs of the past.
Instead of requesting complex, specific measurements (i.e., "Change the
input from 500 Hz to 6000 Hz."), the new software allows the user to
provide information in plain English, such as "I don't hear well in noisy
restaurants," or "Classical music sounds tinny to me." The software can
then make the adjustments to the user's digital hearing aids based on
these comments, leading to fewer, more appropriate changes.
This newest option in hearing aid technology is of great benefit to
many of today's tech savvy baby boomers. It enables them to be more
actively involved with their digital hearing aids -- particularly those
interested in being able to work with programming software that runs on
their own personal computers. In addition, they won't have to take time
off from work to visit an office for adjustments. If they do have
questions about hearing aid technology or adjustments, they can simply
pick up the phone and call the vendor for more information. The vendor may
even be able to make the adjustments and send a file via the Internet to
be downloaded to the hearing aid.
No More Need for Complicated Fittings
Another big change in hearing aid technology is that the latest hearing
aid models do not require the same fitting process that past aids did.
Older digital hearing aids as well as some that are still available today
need to be fit with the creation of a silicon mold (a.k.a. a custom
earmold) so that the aid matches the shape of the wearer's ear. This
process is known as taking an impression. Today, baby boomers with mild to
moderate hearing loss can take advantage of new digital hearing aid
technology and purchase open-fit and speaker-in-the-ear hearing aids.
These devices can be placed on anyone's ear without the need for a custom
earmold. With very minor tweaks to the physical body of the hearing aid,
an open fit can be customized for the individual. Open fit digital hearing
aids also benefit the patient through advanced hearing aid technology that
provides more natural hearing. By allowing sound to pass through to the
ear canal unprocessed by the aid, and then combining it with amplified
signals, open fit aids do not occlude or block the ear canal.
Services Over the Phone and Online
Unlike generations before them, baby boomers are more comfortable
getting information about digital hearing aids online or over the phone,
rather than in person. As a result, they may never have to enter the
office of an audiologist at any point in the buying process. Instead, they
can begin researching hearing aid technology by reading informative
articles available on the Internet. They can also call various
audiologists to ask questions - both general and specific - before making
a purchase.
When it comes time to buy digital hearing aids, that too can be done
over the Internet. Even if the buyer is not a candidate for an open-fit
(something that would be determined through the early stages of research
into hearing aid technology), they can request a fitting kit from many
audiologists and create an earmold themselves -- again without needing to
actually visit an office. They can get several prices before making a
decision and then make the final purchase online or over the phone.
Finally, as previously noted, today's buyers can adjust their digital
hearing aids online, or get technical support over the phone.
Conclusion
As hearing aid technology matures, those in the baby boomer generation
are finding that they can take matters into their own hands. From
researching the right digital hearing aids to fitting and buying the aids
to making adjustments, baby boomers no longer have to spend time and
energy visiting a vendor store or office when they need hearing aids.
Instead, they can take advantage of the Internet and telephone to cover
all aspects of the process.
About the Author
Delain Wright has over twenty years of experience in the hearing aid
industry. He currently serves as CEO of America Hears, a leading
manufacturer and distributor of digital hearing aids. Prior to joining
America Hears, Delain served as president of Rexton, vice president with
Siemens Hearing, and managing director for A&M Hearing. Wright also
recently spent two years researching the changing hearing aid market. For
more information about digital hearing aids, please visit hearing-aids.americahears.com.
