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Prudent audiology

Introduction In January 2014, Professor Mark Drakeford, Minister for Health and Social Services, defined Prudent Healthcare as, “Healthcare that fits the needs and circumstances of patients and actively avoids wasteful care that is not to the patient’s benefit.” ‘Prudent’ healthcare...

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...

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...

Conspiring together: tinnitus and hearing loss

In this special feature, Nic Wray of the British Tinnitus Association and Zheng Yen Ng of The Ear Foundation present the results of their report into managing tinnitus for people with hearing loss. In September 2015, the British Tinnitus Association...

Establishing a hearing service and ear hospital in Nepal: the Ear Aid Nepal experience

Following the earthquake that devastated Nepal in April 2015, the year ended on a positive note with the opening of an ENT hospital in Pokhara. Mike Smith, a UK-born ENT surgeon has been the driving force behind the conception and...

What’s new in genetic testing for hearing impairment?

Often the first question following the diagnosis of a hearing loss is ‘why?’ In this article Ali Danesh explores the advances made in uncovering ‘why’ from a genetics perspective. Ali describes the panel of genetic tests now commercially available to...

What’s new in implantable devices? New indications in cochlear implantation

For over 40 years, cochlear implant procedures have steadily increased. Outcomes for patients are improving as a result of modified surgical techniques, a wider portfolio of electrode arrays, advances in programming strategies, access to improved technology and a better understanding...

A place for everything and everything in its place: the practicalities of randomised clinical trials

Will this pill cure tinnitus? Bonnie Millar describes one trial that has investigated the possibility whilst describing the path of drug trials in the UK. Background In the last quarter of 2014, a clinical trial (QUIET-1; ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02315508) commenced...

The search for pharmacological treatments for hearing loss and tinnitus

Where are we in our search for a hearing restoration grail? Nicola Robas leads us through the map pieces discovered in creating a pharmaceutical answer to hearing loss and tinnitus. Together, hearing loss and tinnitus affect over one in six...

Infant hearing loss impacts spoken language development: identify and intervene early

Early hearing detection and intervention programmes have been implemented in many countries across the globe, but why are these programmes so important and how are our Canadian colleagues managing this process? The consequences of being born with a permanent hearing...

Using the Ling-Madell-Hewitt (LMH) Test Battery

Why change a classic? Because of new knowledge and improved technology, of course! Drs Hewitt and Madell present an update to Daniel Ling’s classic speech test. One of Daniel Ling’s legacies is the Ling Six Sound Test which presents six...