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Cognitive spare capacity: what is it and why does it matter?

Cognition refers to thinking and memory. So why would cognition be a useful concept for ENTs and audiologists? Audition provides our main channel of communication and when we speak to each other, we want to exchange thoughts and remember what...

Cognitive effort and listening in everyday life

Dining with family members, amongst the clinking of dishes and glasses, the sounds of conversations and laughter, the husband, a user of hearing aids, misses his wife’s request to bring another bottle of wine. After a third try, the wife,...

Patient-centred audiological rehabilitation: facilitating and hindering factors for implementation

Introduction Patient-centred care in the health sector is a worldwide concern [1, 2]. Patient-centred rehabilitation is characterised by availability, appropriateness, preference, and timelines [3]. A consensus report by the Institute of Medicine [4] defines a patient-centred approach as ‘providing care...

Case studies – transformational benefits of using connecting hearing aids

While hearing aids can provide great benefits there remain some challenging situations for people with hearing loss. These include listening in background noise, groups, using the telephone and listening to TV / music. Hearing aids with integrated wireless functionality allow...

Dr Marion Pfaender Down

“Dr Marion P Downs, an innovator in the field of paediatric audiology and a tireless advocate for the early identification of hearing loss, passed away on November 13, 2014. During her exemplary career at the University of Colorado Health Sciences...

Rehabilitation of single-sided deafness with cochlear implants

The relatively recent emergence of cochlear implantation as a potential means of restoring hearing to a deafened ear, in the presence of normal hearing in the other ear, has proved an exciting and yet surprising development. James Tysome explores the...

Drug side-effects on audiological and vestibular testing

Are they a malingerer? Or perhaps they are inattentive? It may be their drugs! Robert DiSogra considers the side-effects of medication on the test subject. The audiogram serves many purposes in clinical practice. For the audiologist, it helps to differentiate...

Alternative listening devices: reaching the places hearing aids don’t

The stigma surrounding hearing aids means that many people who would benefit from wearing them are put off from doing so. Alternative listening devices could provide the solution to this. David Maidment discusses these devices, their effectiveness and the impact...

Universal newborn hearing screening: a global health perspective

Intuitively, as health professionals, we know that universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) makes sense. Bolajoko Olusanya outlines how UNHS fits in with global health priorities, as well as illustrating how such programmes can help to deliver additional benefits to communities....

Human immunodeficiency virus and hearing impairment

With an estimated 36.7 million individuals living with HIV / AIDS and literature reporting that these conditions contribute to hearing loss, it is surprising that more focus and resources are not employed to tackle this major hearing health concern. Yolandé...

World Health Assembly adopts a resolution on hearing loss: a defining moment for the global hearing health community

The World Health Assembly recently adopted a resolution on hearing loss. In this article Shelly Chadha and Alarcos Cieza outline how the resolution came to be and how the World Health Organization and its partners plan to implement it. The...

Hearing aid outcomes in older adults: what and when to measure

What matters to older adults when purchasing a hearing aid? Larry Humes explores the domains that should be measured for this key group. This article identifies key domains of hearing aid outcome in older adults. Increasingly, third-party payers and private-pay...