The Audiologist

A researcher’s perspective on auditory skills trainings

Episode 1
The World Health Organization recently acknowledged that auditory training helps people to better use hearing in all situations. So how can audiologists better integrate these methods into their own practices?
In this podcast, Lisa Bacic, Rehabilitation Manager at Phonak and Dr. Maren Stropahl discuss the impact and benefits of auditory skills trainings and how they can be used as a tool in aural rehab.
Visit www.hearingsucccess.com to learn more.

The real world performance of Audéo Life

Audéo Paradise Life is the world’s first waterproof rechargeable hearing aid, combining the hearing performance of Audéo Paradise with a robust new housing that provides additional protection from water and sweat. Sound too good to be true?
In this podcast, Chase Smith, Sales Audiology Manager and Anne Miller, Research Audiologist, talk about how Audéo Life was put through its paces in the real world by a group of athletic study participants.

CROS and Unilateral Hearing Loss - the evidence!

Poorer overall well-being and increased loneliness are a few challenges clients with Unilateral Hearing Loss can experience. So, how can CROS and BiCROS solutions provide much needed help? Jane Woodward, MSc, Audiology Manager, Phonak HQ, and Elizabeth Stewart, AuD, PhD, Research Audiologist, PARC U.S., discuss in this podcast episode.

Don’t just ask what they do, ask what they have stopped doing.

For clients with severe to profound hearing loss, it is crucial to regularly measure outcomes even if their audiogram is stable. In this episode of our podcast series on severe and profound hearing loss, audiologist Judith Bird talks about the importance of ongoing care. As a clinical scientist at Cambridge University Hospitals in the UK and contributing author to the recently published guidelines for best practice in the audiological management of people with severe and profound hearing loss, Judith introduces the so-called PROMs, aided speech tests, and further aspects of ongoing care.

“There isn’t just one type of tinnitus patient or intervention”

Guidelines for severe and profound hearing loss
In this episode of our podcast series based on the new guidelines for best practice in the audiological management of severe and profound hearing loss, Bernadette Fulton, audiology manager at Phonak HQ, talks to Neuropsychologist Dr. Maren Stropahl about tinnitus and how to treat it. A researcher at Sonova HQ and an expert in the field of Audiological Health Service Delivery, Maren knows all about effective tinnitus treatment approaches, depression and anxiety as potential contributing factors, and the correlation between tinnitus and the degree of hearing loss.

”You can lose your hearing frighteningly quickly or cruelly slowly.” Lord Jack Ashley of Stoke

Guidelines for severe and profound hearing loss
In this episode, Dr. Lorraine Gailey, tackles the importance of including communication partners in audiological care. As previous CEO for Hearing Link, a rehabilitation service for adults with severe and profound hearing loss, Dr. Gailey knows that there are not many people who really understand what a person with severe and profound hearing loss must bear. This is why it is particularly important for hearing care professionals to provide the support needed to reduce the social isolation of these clients.

A life-changing decision: Starting the conversation

Guidelines for severe and profound hearing loss
Cochlear implants can be life changing for clients with severe and profound hearing loss. But what if the client is hesitant to get a cochlear implant? And which clients are candidates for a cochlear implant? Audiologist Judith Bird, Head of Audiology and Emmeline Centre for Hearing Implants at Cambridge University Hospitals, NHS Foundation Trust UK, provides answers to this and further questions around cochlear implants in this episode of our podcast series. In her conversation with Bernadette Fulton, audiology manager for severe to profound hearing loss at Phonak HQ, Judith encourages audiologists to start discussing cochlear implants with their clients before their hearing aids fail.

“Yes! Everyone with severe to profound hearing loss should be offered remote microphones.”

Guidelines for severe and profound hearing loss
Remote microphone systems should be offered to all clients with severe to profound hearing loss. Professor Linda Thibodeau and has shown through her research key benefits of remote microphones in challenging communication situations. Listen to Professor Thibodeau, from the University of Texas at Dallas, Callier Center for Communication Disorders, sharing her expertise with Bernadette Fulton, audiology manager at Phonak HQ in Switzerland.

“It becomes important to know exactly what the patient is receiving through their hearing aid.”

Guidelines for severe and profound hearing loss
People with severe and profound hearing loss have different needs in terms of their application than those with mild to moderate loss. In this episode of our podcast series, Bernadette Fulton, audiology manager for severe to profound hearing loss at Phonak HQ, talks to Pamela Souza, Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Knowles Hearing Center at the Northwestern University in Illinois, US, about the benefits of wide dynamic range compression, the importance of the noise reduction algorithm, and the contribution of adaptive digital microphones to speech understanding in noise for this group.

“There are so many tools in our toolkit” when fitting hearing aids

Guidelines for severe and profound hearing loss
People with severe to profound hearing loss face different challenges and issues. How can hearing aids help to balance these out? Pamela Souza, Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Knowles Hearing Center at the Northwestern University in Illinois, US, provides answers to this and many further questions in this episode of our podcast series. As Pamela not just conducts research and lectures on severe and profound hearing loss, but is also a contributing author to the recently published guidelines for best practice in audiological management of severe and profound hearing loss, she has in-depth knowledge on the possibilities and limits of hearing aids and what these mean for fitting and counselling of her clients.