All older adults deserve access to the tools they need for healthy aging.
Yet there are massive economic and racial disparities in access to and use of hearing care that this model cannot meet. Less than 20% of adults with hearing loss use a hearing aid, and rates are even lower among low-income adults, often due to the high cost of devices, limited insurance coverage, and inadequate access to hearing care professionals.
In-person, one-to-one interaction between patient and clinician remains the dominant clinical model of hearing care. The Cochlear Center is developing, testing, and disseminating different models of care so that older people have access to care at all levels of accessibility and affordability.
HEARS - Hearing health Equity through Accessible Research and Solutions
The HEARS program is a first-in-kind, affordable, accessible hearing care intervention delivered by community health workers who connect older adults in their community with education on age-related hearing loss, basic principles of aural rehabilitation, and over-the-counter hearing technology. The HEARS program works: the randomized clinical trial conducted in Baltimore found that participants’ hearing and communication improved significantly – all with a 2-hour program delivered entirely by community health workers using over-the-counter, low-cost hearing technology. Further trials of the HEARS program are planned at three sites across Maryland, and lead investigator Carrie Nieman is seeking collaborators and funding to grow the program globally.
Learn More About HEARS
