The Adult Hearing Health team

Based at the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre within Hearing Sciences at the University of Nottingham, our research focuses on patient and public priorities across four interconnected themes:

• Hearing in dementia

• Auditory training

• Health behaviour

• Care pathways

During Deaf Awareness Week (5-11 May, 2025) we welcomed 40 people to the University of Nottingham. Attendees were people who work with us and support our research. This showcase event celebrated our team’s progress and provided an opportunity for attendees to reflect on the teams future direction.

Captured: a soundbite of the day

The day began with a warm welcome. There were fresh pastries and an introduction from Dr. Helen Henshaw. Introduced were the team, its members, and recent achievements. Short research flash talks followed. Each highlighted one of the four themes and the current projects linked to them. These talks showcased some of the interventions developed by the team. For example, PLUS, which stands for “Practice Listening and Understanding Speech” is an auditory training program designed to address listening challenges through practice with listening games.

Feeding into this was a series of interactive demonstrations. Five stations were set up around the room. Designed to engage attendees with our past and present research. Four stations focused on interventions in development within each theme. Another showcased our past research publications.

After lunch, we held a Knowledge Café and passed the microphone to people with lived experience of hearing conditions. A knowledge café is a relaxed, informal meeting where people share ideas and learn from each other through open conversation. They shared their stories and how challenges can be better addressed. Our guest speakers included Alex Barker, Tom Dening, Jean Straus, and John Turner.

The day ended with a panel discussion with members of the Adult Hearing Health team. Followed by closing remarks from Helen. Attendees had the chance to ask questions to the team during the panel. Questions involved the team’s current research and future plans.

We offered our attendees several ways to share feedback with us during the showcase. This is key to our inclusive and accessible approach. For example, we placed postcards on the event tables for written feedback. Attendees placed the postcards into a box at the registration desk for our team to review later.

The larger soundscape: insights and key takeaways

We’re still early in our PhD programs and haven’t had many chances to connect with people who have lived experience of hearing loss. We found the Knowledge Café inspiring. Hearing the stories of people living with hearing loss was insightful. It reminded us how important it is for research to involve patients and the public. Rather than doing research for them. This message was present throughout these talks.

A key takeaway from the event was the importance of involving patients in research right from the beginning of the process; even before the development of research plans. It starts by understanding their needs and continues by working alongside them throughout. This ensures the research stays focused on what matters to those who will use the outputs of the research in their everyday lives.

Natalie’s PhD journey

The most common complaint for people with hearing loss is that they cannot hear speech in noise. Auditory training can help to improve everyday listening, even in noisy settings. While hearing aids are the most common intervention and help with quiet sounds, they make all sounds louder. This means people with hearing loss still find it hard to hear speech when there is background noise.

Everyday listening is challenging partly because people with hearing loss often miss the beginnings and ends of words. For example, if someone cannot hear the difference between /ba/ and /da/, it is hard to tell the difference between “bad” and “dad.” For this reason, PLUS includes a phoneme task that focuses on improving recognition of these speech sounds.

PLUS also includes a sentence task with competing speech, generated by people with hearing loss. The task reflects a real-life listening challenge they wanted to improve and helped make sure their priorities were part of PLUS auditory training.

My PhD work focuses on maximising improvements in everyday listening from PLUS auditory training. I will explore the speech and thinking processes that help these improvements happen.

At our showcase event, attendees tried out both PLUS tasks and we asked for feedback. We wanted to know whether the instructions were clear and how they could improve. In my PhD, I plan work with people with hearing loss to keep improving the PLUS program.

My work supports the Adult Hearing Health team’s goals and continues the commitment of the team to find new solutions to old problems, and to carry out inclusive and accessible research guided by public-patient involvement.

Nova’s PhD journey

Dementia and hearing loss often co-occur, significantly affecting communication, cognition, and well-being. The Lancet Standing Commission on Dementia Prevention, Intervention and Care (2027, 2020, 2024) https://www.thelancet.com/commissions-do/dementia-prevention-intervention-and-care. identified hearing loss as a potentially modifiable risk factor for dementia. The co-morbidity presents challenges distinct from each condition alone, yet guidance on recommended interventions is limited.

With an increase in research trials and further trials planned, there is uncertainty regarding which outcomes are important to measure when evaluating interventions for those with lived experience of both conditions.

My PhD project aims to develop a Core Outcome Set (COS) for studies evaluating interventions for co-existing dementia and hearing loss. A COS ensures that future research focuses on outcomes that are relevant, reducing research waste, as intervention trial results can be consistently reported and compared to identify effective interventions.

This project is aligned with the wider goals of the Adult Hearing Health team. Team members help me to access a wealth of expertise across both dementia and hearing health. The team’s broad knowledge base, spans over prevention, diagnosis, intervention, and care pathways. This helps me shape my project, while receiving opportunities for collaboration and knowledge exchange.

A key aspect of my project is stakeholder involvement. Developing the COS will involve direct input from people with lived experience of dementia and hearing loss, carers, clinicians, and researchers. This aligns closely with the DHL team’s commitment to meaningful involvement. Rather than creating a tool for the population, this COS will be developed with them, ensuring it reflects real-world needs and priorities.

The post Passing the microphone: How is amplifying the public-patient voice improving interventions and outcomes in adult hearing health research? appeared first on Hearing Matters.

I wandered out of the audiologist’s feeling more than a little self-conscious and curious as to how the world would respond. In short, as it turned out, not a lot. Few people have commented directly, and they have been mainly family or people I know well. What I did notice was that it became more frequent for conversations about hearing in general to take place, leading me to conclude that of course the other person had noticed (how could they not?) and thus felt safe to talk about hearing topics. Initially, I had a sense that some people were looking at me but trying to be subtle about it. This may also have reflected my own self-consciousness but, within a week or two, I have become much less bothered by this. The coloured aids are what I wear, and they are a statement about hearing loss and how it is OK to make this visible to others.

What is quite fun is that it is possible to change the colours of the earhooks, the connecting tubes and the moulds, so that today, for instance, I have green earhooks and yellow tubes. It would be cool to have bright red hearing aids as a change from the blue, but that is way more expensive than just paying a few quid for earhooks and tubes, so that will have to wait for another time. Another option I am thinking of is to add some jewellery (as produced by companies like Deaf Metal or Auzi) but this might require an ear piercing. Hmm.

So, in the event, the colours haven’t been as much of a big deal as I expected. I must say that, personally, I like the look, so I am quite happy with that aspect. What has been more significant is the change in the type of hearing aid, and that is the reason for ‘And More’ in the title above. Previously I have used receiver in canal (RIC) hearing aids, where the aid is connected by a wire to the speaker, which is located in the ear canal and held in place by a round silicon piece (dome). The advantages of RIC are that they are light, less visible, and allow you to use more of your residual hearing, especially of lower frequencies as sound can still enter your ear canal from outside. They are pretty easy to maintain as you just need to replace the wax filter on the receiver every now and again.

The new hearing aids, being intended for children (!), are made to operate in a different fashion. The sound is produced in the hearing aid itself (hence these are known as behind the ear; BTE) and transmitted via the tubing through the ear mould and into the ear canal. With a custom fitted mould, there is a close seal between the mould and the ear canal. Indeed, if the aids are turned off, they are akin to ear plugs. Most ear moulds have a second hole which acts as a vent to allow low frequency sounds to get through. Otherwise, the effect is quite strange and a bit like being under water. Thus a BTE aid is a bit more complicated than a RIC model, but it is more powerful as it retains more of the sound produced by the hearing aid.

I hadn’t really thought about how different these two types of aid might be, and I think I am still getting used to wearing BTE aids. However, what I do notice is that they make available sounds that I haven’t heard for a while, like birdsong, and there is a richness about fabric and other sounds that is pleasing too. It does change the sound of my own voice, making it come from inside my head, and this is definitely taking a while to adjust to. For close-up sounds (within arm’s length) they are almost like having a Roger device in your head. They are slightly fiddly to insert at first, but the strange sequence of movements that you need to place them correctly is soon learned. Cleaning is more complicated, as it is important to keep the mould and the tubing as dry as possible, which requires wiping, blowing air through the mould, and using drying crystals for storage. However, I imagine this just becomes routine too. It’s certainly worth doing as much as possible to look after this expensive kit.

Thus, this blog is not so much about colours, more about the different hearing experiences from different types of hearing aid. As usual, life turns up things that are unexpected. Which is why life remains interesting and stimulating.

Tom Dening

6^th June 2025

The post Colours and more appeared first on Hearing Matters.

The downside of this is perhaps that we are thus still buying into a stigmatised perception of hearing loss. Camouflage and not display. The offer for children, however, is rather different, and there’s often a choice of colours for the aid itself, the hook over the top of the ear, and the ear moulds. These can be chosen to match or to create interesting contrasts.

I’m starting to feel disruptive. Maybe it’s my getting old and maybe just closer to retirement, but I would like to be more visible in my hearing aids (or maybe the HA should be more visible on me?). I enjoy being a HA user and I try to advocate for people to get tested and to use HAs when they would benefit from them. I have a pair of HAs that are getting close to needing replacement, so now is an opportunity to do something a bit different.

So, I recently tentatively began a conversation with my audiologist: ‘I would like coloured, much more visible HAs but they only seem to be available for children.’ Next question: ‘Do children’s HAs differ technically from adult ones?’ In fact, no, they have the same internal functionality. They are programmed differently because of the different sound environments of children compared to adults, but they can easily be reset for adult requirements. Hmm, this is starting to sound possible…

Also relevant: children’s HAs usually have a hook that comes round the top of the ear, and a shorter tube into the ear than an adult HA, which just has a wire running from the behind-the-ear device that feeds into the receiver and dome in the ear canal. Because of this difference in design, and also to prevent juvenile rumbustiousness dislodging the aid, children’s HAs usually require a mould sitting in the concha and the ear canal to hold them in place.

‘Yes, I’d be interested in doing this. What are the next steps?’ First involves looking at the manufacturer’s website for more information, though actually I’m most interested in the colour chart for the HAs and ear hooks. Some of the colours are subdued, so not what I am looking for, but there are some great ones for both components. The question then is whether to go for high contrast, e.g. purple with yellow, or to be more co-ordinated, e.g. red with pink or orange. It was only after I thought I had decided that I realised that the ear moulds can be coloured too. A lot to consider.

https://www.phonak.com/en-uk/hearing-devices/hearing-aids/sky-marvel-kids

The next step with the audiologist is to have impressions made of my ear for making the mould. There are some useful YouTube videos, so I have an idea what to expect. Having obtained the impressions, we will send in our order and await developments.

In advance of all this happening, I am not sure how it will all work out. Mainly I am enthusiastic, and I am very curious as to how people may react when they see HAs refusing to be discreet and shy. I do of course have some trepidation but overall I think it will be fun. Enormous appreciation for Kirsty, my audiologist. She has always been very encouraging even when I start to wonder if what I am asking for is a bit crazy. My approach is that, if you gotta have HAs, you may as well enjoy the experience and try things out. There’s another blog waiting to be written after these babies get fitted, I’ll keep you posted.

Tom Dening

24^th April 2025

The post In pursuit of colour appeared first on Hearing Matters.

Is your child sensitive to sound?

Please help us test a new clinical questionnaire.

What is sound-sensitivity?

Sound-sensitivity (also known as hyperacusis) is common in children. It is where they experience distress or pain when hearing some everyday sounds. For example, they may struggle with the normal sounds present at home (e.g. hoover) and outside (e.g. traffic, crowded areas), nursery and school (e.g. the dinner hall), attending fun classes and parties. It can also make it difficult for the child to build friendships and learn well at school. This can have a severe impact on their quality of life and mental health.

What will our study do?

Despite the fact that clinicians routinely see children with sound-sensitivity, there are no child-appropriate measures to assess it. This study works with clinicians and parents to design and test a questionnaire for assessing sound-sensitivity in children. Having such a questionnaire will:

• Assist clinicians in the assessment of sound-sensitivity before and after treatment.
• Enable research into more effective treatments for sound-sensitivity in children.

How can I help?

Please complete the new questionnaire if you look after a child who is:

• between 2 and 11 years old
• sensitive to some sounds (for example hoover, blender, traffic noise, school bell).

For more details:

Participant Information Sheet for parents/guardians

To take part:

The post Sound-sensitivity in children appeared first on Hearing Matters.

The results of the ACHIEVE trial of hearing interventions aimed at helping cognition in older people are very welcome. This is a really important piece of research and will have implications for patients, clinicians and researchers. As a hearing aid user myself, I am personally very interested in this topic.

The background is that hearing loss from midlife is recognised as a major independent risk factor for developing dementia in later years, so the big question is whether hearing interventions, that is, supporting people to wear hearing aids, help to slow down cognitive decline and prevent dementia. If so, up to 8% of cases of dementia might be prevented, which would be a massive benefit.

There are now quite a few good observational studies showing that people with untreated hearing loss do have an increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia compared to those who wear hearing aids. The problem with these studies is they don’t account for other differences between hearing aid users and non-users, e.g. non-users may have other health and social issues that also contribute to dementia risk. So the only way to address this is by means of a clinical trial that randomly allocates people to active hearing support treatment versus a control condition where they get something else.

The ACHIEVE trial is the first major trial of this kind to report its findings. It included over 900 participants and followed them up for 3 years to measure various aspects of cognition. Interestingly, they were recruited from two different sources. One was simply advertising to the public for eligible volunteers. The other group came from an ongoing study (called ARIC) recruited to study cardiovascular disease in the population. The main finding was that overall there was no difference between the group receiving hearing intervention compared to the controls, who received a health education programme instead. The only difference was seen in the ARIC group, where the intervention group did better than the controls.

Why the difference between the ARIC group and the newly recruited volunteers? The latter were slightly younger, more affluent and in better general health, with fewer other risk factors for dementia (like high blood pressure or diabetes). Thus, maybe people in this group were just at very low risk of developing dementia during the study period and whether they had hearing aids or not made little or no difference to them. In contrast, the ARIC group had several risk factors for dementia and so were more likely to benefit from hearing aids at this stage in their health pathway.

Overall, maybe the results are a little disappointing that there wasn’t a bigger effect for everyone taking part, but they do suggest that supporting people who at higher risk of dementia with interventions like hearing aids. And anyone with hearing loss should bear in mind that wearing hearing aids has many benefits besides potentially reducing your risk of dementia. You can hear better, function better socially, do your work in more comfort, and use the aids as cool Bluetooth devices to stay connected. All of which is great for well-being.

Tom Dening

17^th July 2023

The post Dementia and hearing aids, again: the ACHIEVE trial appeared first on Hearing Matters.

The Lancet Commission reports published in 2017 and 2021 have highlighted hearing loss as a major risk factor for dementia, suggesting that hearing loss from midlife onwards is responsible for about 8% of the potentially modifiable risk of dementia. Therefore, potentially, eliminating the problem could prevent 8% of future cases of dementia. This would be a huge effect and would dwarf the effects of any current or near-future pharmacological treatments.

The question then arises as to whether treating hearing loss does reduce dementia risk. This is attracting a lot of research attention at present. What evidence do we have, and how good is its quality? Papers published in recent years have tended to support the idea that hearing aids are beneficial, as they usually report that people wearing hearing aids have lower risks of developing dementia over time compared to those with untreated hearing loss. However, studies are often limited by relatively small numbers and the fact that hearing aid users and non-users may differ in important ways. For example, the latter group may be developing early features of dementia, may live in more socially deprived settings or may have worse physical health, any of which could explain lower hearing aid use.

Two papers published this year* have taken matters further. The first (Yeo et al., 2023) is a systematic review including 31 studies of hearing interventions and cognitive decline (so, not just dementia). A meta-analysis of eight of these studies (with nearly 127,000 participants in total) found a reduction of 19% in hazard of developing cognitive decline in hearing aid users compared to those with uncorrected hearing loss. There was also a 3% increase in cognitive test scores in the short-term. In the second paper (Jiang et al., 2023), the authors used data from the UK Biobank from nearly half a million participants, comparing groups with and without self-reported hearing problems in relation to future diagnosis of dementia. Compared to people with normal hearing, those with hearing loss and without hearing aids had an over 40% increased risk of dementia (hazard ratio = 1.42). However, people with hearing loss and using hearing aids had the same risk of dementia as those with normal hearing.

These papers are very encouraging reading as they strengthen the impression that hearing aid use may well be beneficial for brain health and therefore that clinicians should encourage patients to seek hearing assessment and treatment. However, what we still don’t know is whether, if everyone with hearing loss used hearing aids, that would produce similar large reductions in dementia risk. That would require a randomised controlled trial, which would be difficult to design because of the ethical problem of having a control group who were denied hearing aids.

Another important issue concerns how hearing conditions may contribute to cognitive impairment. There are several hypotheses, which include (1) increased cognitive load (if you can’t hear, your brain has to work harder all the time), (2) sensory deprivation (if you can’t hear, you miss out on much of the information in your environment), (3) common cause of neurodegeneration in brain and auditory pathways (e.g. vascular disease), (4) central auditory dysfunction (which can be an early manifestation of dementia), and (5) psychosocial isolation and withdrawal (which can result from either hearing loss or cognitive changes, but is exacerbated by the two occurring together). These hypotheses are also relevant to how hearing aids might work. For example, you would expect that hearing aids would be effective against mechanisms (1), (2) and (5), but less so against (3) and (4). Thus, if people who don’t use hearing aids have a preponderance of vascular pathology or central auditory dysfunction, this may explain why they don’t use aids. And making them do so would probably not affect their dementia risk.

One final question that occurs to me is that maybe eventually we will find that hearing impairment is only a proxy from the real risk factor. By this I mean that we should be looking carefully at the characteristics of the hearing non-user group. Perhaps at least some of them are non-users for very good reasons, and their increased dementia risk may be due to factors that also underlie their hearing loss (vascular, neurodegenerative, adverse social circumstances, etc).

In the meantime though, recent research is good news as it suggests that hearing aids can be useful little blighters when it comes to reducing your risk of future dementia. Audiologists will of course welcome the news and hopefully the public too. However, do we have a system that can cope with the potential demand? One of the most potent ways of promoting hearing aid acceptance is through the relationship of the patient with the audiologist, though I suspect that we are rarely able to offer this within the NHS.

*Jiang F, Mishra SR, Shrestha N, Ozaki A, Virani SS, Bright T, Kuper H, Zhou C, Zhu D. Association between hearing aid use and all-cause and cause-specific dementia: an analysis of the UK Biobank cohort. Lancet Public Health 2023 April 13. https://doi.org/10.1016/ S2468-2667(23)00048-8.

*Yeo BSY, Song HJJMD, Toh EMS, Ng LS, Ho CSH, Ho R, Merchant RA, Tan BKJ, Loh WS. Association of hearing aids and cochlear implants with cognitive decline and dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Neurol. 2023 Feb 1;80(2):134-141. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2022.4427.

Tom Dening

April 2023

Declaration of interest: I have enthusiastically worn hearing aids since September 2022 and advocated their use in earlier blogs. I am of course greatly encouraged by the papers I have discussed, though hopefully able to consider their limitations as well as their positive messages.

The post The humble hearing aid versus Giant Dementia appeared first on Hearing Matters.

Roger happens to be the name of a series of wireless microphones designed to augment the effects of hearing aids. As I mentioned in an earlier blog (Hearing aids and beyond… – Hearing Matters (nottingham.ac.uk), these devices come in different shapes and sizes according to the intended purpose. This blog is to present a personal account of my experience with one of the Roger products over a period of a few months.

The Roger Select is a small circular device about 5.5cm in diameter and less than 1cm in height, weighing just a few grams. It is readily portable in the little bag supplied in the box. I was curious about what the experience of using it would be like and especially whether it would improve my ability to hear conversations in meetings or in social settings. However, curiosity comes at a price, these things aren’t cheap, so it’s a bit of a gamble paying for it when you don’t know if there will be any benefit. I imagine though that the supplier would take it back within a certain period if it was not giving satisfaction.

Operating the device is very simple. You charge it up from the mains, switch it on and then connect it to your hearing aids. This requires that the aids are ‘discoverable’, i.e. newly switched on, and close to the Roger. There is a Connect button on the underside of the device that you press and, hey ho, there is a satisfying little connecting noise and you are away. Once connected, it remains so. I’m told that several people can connect to one Roger device, but I haven’t been able to test this yet. I need a hearing aid partner to try this out.

Now connected, I have tried Roger in every setting that I can think of. It has been great fun and new opportunities come along most weeks. Most often, I use it in small meetings, one-to-ones or supervisions where there may be 3 or 4 people. Without hearing aids, these were becoming a struggle, so hearing aids have been fantastic for this core part of my work. I’d probably hear the conversation well enough with just the aids but using the wireless mics does make a difference in clarity and sharpness of people’s voices. I just put the device in the middle of the table. I don’t bother much with the direction settings that Roger has, since the mics respond in any case to the direction from which the speaker is talking.

I haven’t been to as many large meetings as I used to, since many still take place online. However, Roger is potentially very helpful in these. The challenge is to put the mic in the right place to get the best results. This should be as far away from you as possible, maybe close to whoever is likely to speak most or else anyone who may have a soft voice. Getting this right is still work in progress, but there is definitely enhancement of other people’s speech. Where Roger has been brilliant, though, is in seminars or talks where there is a lectern or a table at the front near the speaker. So long as you are in clear eyeline of the front, you can sit wherever you like in the room and you get the same clarity and volume. The Roger booklet suggests that you can ask the speaker to wear the device (either clipped on or else as a pendant) but I haven’t done that. Just getting it on the lectern is ample. I suppose if the speaker moved around a lot, that would be a challenge, but most people remain close to the lectern in order to operate their slides. Don’t forget to turn it off at the tea break though, otherwise you may hear the next speaker cursing as they set up their PowerPoint.

Therefore, definitely worthwhile at work. It is an entirely reasonable adjustment for my disability. I carry Roger around most of the day and use whenever possible. Most people don’t notice or pass no comment, though some are interested.

What about social life? I use Roger when I have a car passenger as it adds clarity to speech above road and traffic noise. It might be really useful if there were people in the rear seats, but this is another experiment yet to try. Going to the pub or a restaurant can be challenging as the effects depend on the level of ambient noise. More than once I have been able to hear the conversation more clearly but at the cost of a lot of background sound, which makes it an effortful experience. However, Roger can be adjusted for surrounding noise levels, and I have recently had the threshold to suppress noise turned up, so this may help. Positioning yourself carefully, e.g. back to a wall, is also recommended. Using Roger when eating meals at home with guests works very well. I look forward to a time like Christmas where we have a very full table with me at one end and Rog at the other.

Roger can also function as an audio listening device, e.g. for TV or audio players. You do this either plugging Roger into the audio port of the other device, though this may mute the audio for everyone else, or simply put Roger by the TV speaker. This works quite well, as I can then have the TV at my chosen volume and anyone else can select theirs.

Any limitations? I have mentioned one, which is picking up too much noise in crowded rooms. But this sort of situation can be tricky for people with normal hearing too, which is why everyone ends up shouting. There are a few others. Using Roger is heavy on the batteries of my hearing aids, so I often find they are getting very low when I get home in the evening. And the Roger battery indicator is just green, orange and then red, and there isn’t it again. Finally, there are quite frequent dips in signal. Often these are due to irritating notifications arriving on my mobile phone, sometimes they are unexplained. Mercifully, they are very brief, and actually the sudden drop in acoustic quality reminds me that I am benefiting from the extra contribution of the Roger mics. So, yes, I’d recommend these devices though it is a shame they may not be more widely available (yet?) on account of the cost.

Disclaimer: these views are entirely my own, the product was purchased personally by me, and I have received no remuneration or other incentives from the manufacturer.

Tom Dening

April 2023

The post Roger and out? Further reflections on wireless microphones appeared first on Hearing Matters.

I wrote a few months ago about my initial acceptance of having hearing loss and the experience of acquiring hearing aids (Tom Dening: Hearing aids and cognitive impairment – Challenging Stigma and Promoting Personhood (lancs.ac.uk)). Since then, things have moved on somewhat, causing me to reflect on what is available to help people optimise their hearing.

The first thing that became apparent to me was that I needed a new phone. The old one had been OK when it was new but it had gradually lost functionality, e.g. it could no longer connect to the internet or access email, and the growing world of apps had completely passed by the poor old thing. It was essentially just a phone that could take pictures. It had to go. Getting a proper smartphone brought me in touch with probably most of the population. In particular, I was interested in apps that might support hearing. The most useful one is the manufacturer’s own app, as this contains information about battery life and also measures your average daily wearing time. As I like a challenge, I have been finding ways to increase this time and have added about an hour and a half by sometimes wearing the hearing aids in bed or inserting them if I wake up early, which quite commonly occurs.

Scouting around online made me aware of some devices that looked useful. The first of these was a TV connector, which you can buy online from various hearing care suppliers. I was delighted to realise that if, as a person with hearing loss, you are buying it for yourself, then it is VAT exempt. The device turned out to be about half the size that it looked online (about 6mm square), and it is very light in weight too. Two cables, one into the mains and the other into TV audio, and once you have introduced it to the hearing aids it connects automatically when you are in range. This makes it simpler than the average Bluetooth as you don’t have to select anything. The other difference is that it allows normal audio at the same time, so someone else can watch TV with you, and you can both select your own volume independently. This saves a lot of debate, certainly in our household. If you leave the room, you eventually get a little notificatory ping in your hearing aids when you get out of range. I have ordered a second connector for our other TV.

The more complicated device I came across is called Roger. I am not trying to do product placement here. I wondered whether to give Roger a pseudonym, like Nigel, but decided that may simply be confusing, so Roger it is. Roger is essentially a wireless microphone system. There seem to be three types of Roger for different types of use. What looks like the simplest looks much like a microphone and you can wear it yourself, get someone else to wear it, or put it on the table in front of you. The complicated version is a set of wireless microphone devices, probably sufficient to bug a whole room, or least a conference table. It’s available from MI6’s online store. I’m kidding.

The intermediate version of Roger is a single device containing an array of three mics arranged so that in effect they can receive from six directions, housed in a small circular casing. It is about the size of a biscuit and at home we sometimes refer to it as the Macaroon. To acquire one of these, I think, requires a professional consultation. That is as well, since I definitely wanted to talk to someone about whether it might be helpful prior to paying the eye-watering sum. So, I consulted, the device was ordered, and two weeks later I had a new piece of kit to experiment with. So far, it is early days, but I have tried using Roger in a café, with a passenger in my car, in my clinics, in one-to-one meetings, and in groups of up to five people. I’m yet to get a dinner invitation but I’m hopeful.

First of all, the device is great. You have to have it fairly close to the person to whom you are listening, within a metre or two is ideal. Otherwise it doesn’t pick up. In contrast, as long as you are in eyeline, you can be some way distant. It gives very clear sound into the hearing aids. While the aids have definitely helped a lot with conversations, Roger augments this further, which I have found very useful. You can adjust the volume through your hearing aids and the mic direction through Roger itself.

Second is that either people simply don’t notice it or they are very polite. I generally just pop the device on the table and proceed. If anyone asks, I explain that I am not recording them. And of course, as they can’t hear anything extra, it is not obtrusive to them. When I do explain what it is, people think it is cool, so it’s an interesting move from the slight stigma of hearing aids to having trendy wireless mics on the desk. Third, Roger also plugs into the audio sockets of equipment, which has meant that some kit, like my ageing CD player, that don’t connect well to Bluetooth, can be used with Roger to produce a great sound for me.

There’s a useful Roger app that has training videos and guides and I am proud that I am now at the level 7 skill level. Maybe I’ll get a certificate? In my curious way, I have also been in dialogue with the app producers.

Overall, the last few months have been fascinating and have transformed my outlook on hearing loss and hearing support systems. I think there’s still a lot more for me to learn, but it’s definitely been fun so far.

Tom Dening
Professor of Dementia Research, Mental Health & Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham

The post Hearing aids and beyond… appeared first on Hearing Matters.

Hearing loss and cognitive impairment are both extremely common, especially in older adults. Untreated hearing loss has been identified as the leading modifiable risk factor for the development of dementia in mid-life.

Currently, one in five adults in the UK live with hearing loss. It is estimated that 12 million people in the UK have hearing loss. This number is expected to rise to 14.2 million people by 2035.

On the other hand, dementia is estimated to affect almost one million adults in the UK, rising to 1.6 million people by 2040.

Not only do both conditions have a significant impact on an individual’s wellbeing, their carers and social network can also be affected.

As both of these conditions can present similarly, it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish the true cause of these symptoms over time. Examples of overlapping symptoms include difficulty in understanding and following conversations, social withdrawal and isolation. Therefore, patients can sometimes be misdiagnosed which may cause a delay in providing the correct treatment, which may then further impact an individual’s quality of life.

A hotly debated topic in this field is whether cognitive screening tests should be used in audiology clinics to aid early detection of cognitive impairment or dementia for onward referral, and/or to help guide audiological counselling and hearing loss management.  Cognitive screening tests are short and quick tests which can be used to check how well the brain is functioning. They are designed to test our cognition (or thinking abilities), such as memory, language, judgement, and the ability to learn new things.

We are interested in what you have to say!

We are interested on hearing from patients and the public on their opinions of cognitive screening in audiology clinics.

We are recruiting participants to take part in a short survey to tell us about your thoughts.  The survey will take about 15 minutes to complete.

To take part, please contact Dr Emma Broome at emma.broome1@nottingham.ac.uk  or Puntrika Tannirandorn at mzypt2@nottingham.ac.uk.

Thank you.

Puntrika Tannirandorn joins the team to deliver this research project via the INSPIRE INSRIP initiative.

“INSPIRE is a nationwide programme supported by the Wellcome Trust to engage medical students in research.”

https://www.inspirenottingham.co.uk/overview

“INSRIP is a new initiative which gives interested students the opportunity to do a research project with renowned academics at the University of Nottingham.”

https://www.inspirenottingham.co.uk/insrip

The post Hearing Loss and Cognitive Impairment appeared first on Hearing Matters.

Leader, teacher, mentor, scientist, clinician, patient advocate and man of faith: we will not see his like again.

The sudden and tragic death of David (Dave) Baguley has left a gap within the national and international audiology and hearing science community.

A Mancunian and lifelong supporter of Manchester City football club, he was awarded a BSc in psychology, 1983, then a MSc in clinical audiology, 1985, both from the University of Manchester. His first post was Scientific Officer in the MRC Institute of Hearing Research, Cardiff. One year later, he moved to the NHS, working as a clinical scientist in audiology at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge. Dave remained in Cambridge for over 30 years, transforming the small NHS audiology team into a comprehensive assessment and rehabilitative centre of excellence. He cared diligently for his patients, many of whom continue to enquire of him fondly.

While in Cambridge, he rose to consultant status and latterly head of audiology services and cochlear implants. During this time, he was awarded an MBA (distinction), a PhD on physiological mechanisms of tinnitus in vestibular schwannoma, and a diploma in pastoral theology. He built a formidable international reputation as a leading expert in tinnitus and hyperacusis, publishing prolifically on the subject and receiving referrals from all over the country. This was in no small part due to his empathic approach to his patients. His generosity of spirit and his enquiring mind made him the ideal mentor for a whole generation of young skull base surgeons training in Cambridge and leaves a lasting legacy in skull base centres across the world. The respect afforded him amongst the ENT community meant he was a regular attender at the Otology section of the Royal Society of Medicine and the UK’s leading ENT conference, the British Academic Conference in Otolaryngology. He contributed enormously to improvements in the care of patients with tinnitus and hyperacusis in departments across the UK. He also published leading work on audiovestibular dysfunction in patients with vestibular schwannomas, and his support for such patients was often acknowledged by the British Acoustic Neuroma Association whose members found his insight into the challenges they face invaluable.

In 2016, Dave relocated to the University of Nottingham, where he took up the position of Professor of Hearing Sciences within the School of Medicine’s Division of Clinical Neuroscience investigating hearing loss and tinnitus, including associations with platinum-based chemotherapy. He was Deputy Lead of the Hearing Theme in the Nottingham NIHR Biomedical Research Centre and co-investigator on a current clinical trial on following-up and monitoring of new adult hearing aid users, funded by the Health Technology Assessment.

Dave was a passionate and gifted scientist, confident and sure in his research; for many of us, he was the ‘go-to person’ for the latest research findings. He published around two hundred scientific articles and two books, most recently “Living with Tinnitus and Hyperacusis.” He was a five-time winner of the Marie and Jack Shapiro prize from the British Tinnitus Association, and won the Norman Gamble Research Prize from the Royal Society of Medicine Section of Otology, the TS Littler Prize of the British Society of Audiology, and the International Award in Hearing of the American Academy of Audiology.

Dave was a voracious reader and an innovative thinker. He managed to bridge professional boundaries, connecting people with overlapping interests and linking ideas and clinical strategies from different specialisms. He was one of the few who comfortably straddled audiology, ENT and hearing science communities, exchanging insights and perspectives. His clinical background, and ongoing, clinical consultations, meant he developed a clear line of sight from discovery research through to patient benefit.

He was much in demand as a speaker on tinnitus and audiology courses around the world, with an eloquent, relaxed, and easy style – plus the ability to give a thoughtful response to questions from the floor. He was able to combine art and science, often incorporating literary references into his presentations.

Throughout his career, he worked with impressive efficiency and juggled commitments at local and national level. He invested time in supporting and promoting the profession. He served the British Society of Audiology as Chair, 2009-2011, and was editor of the British Journal of Audiology (now International Journal of Audiology) from 1995-2000. He helped establish the British Academy of Audiology, co-chairing the inaugural conference in Manchester, 2004. Dave joined the Editorial Board of what was then called ENT News in 2008. He worked tirelessly to source material of the highest academic calibre. He used his charm and wit to campaign fiercely so that audiology content would have equal coverage in the magazine and was instrumental in inserting the word ’Audiology’ into its title, becoming the current ENT & Audiology News. He was president of the British Tinnitus Association, 2015-2019.

Dave earned an international reputation as an audiologist and hearing scientist. As evidence, he played an important role in the formation of the international committee of the American Academy of Audiology, serving as co-chair for three years. In 2006, Dave won the prestigious American Academy of Audiology International Award for Hearing. His global influence on education of audiologists, and the patients they serve, was also evidenced by multiple clinically oriented articles in the The Hearing Journal and, in later years, online continuing education websites such as AudiologyOnline. Dave single-handedly inspired untold numbers of audiologists in the US to become involved in the assessment and management of persons with bothersome tinnitus and/or hyperacusis.

Occasionally perceived as self-important, Dave’s outstanding people skills, charm and wit quickly pushed that aside. He was always dependable, considered and thoughtful. An early adopter of social media, he used it effectively to share his research findings. He commanded a large network of contacts and collaborators throughout the world and spanning many disciplines. He could comfortably put people at ease, with humility and care for others. He was calm, gentle, warm, thoughtful, insightful and supportive. Dave could listen attentively with incredible insight. Many individuals acknowledge the support he has given when they were in difficult personal circumstances. He could recognise potential and found ways of harnessing talent often when people had approached audiology in unconventional routes. He was an enthusiastic mentor to many, willing to give advice and encouragement as junior staff explored career routes. He opened doors creating opportunities and encouraged development. He was a kind and respectful critic and deeply respected.

At his core, Dave was a man of deep Christian faith. He was ordained a Deacon in the Church of England in 2011 and Priest the following year. Called to ministry alongside his clinical role, his correct title, although rarely used by those who knew him, was Reverend Professor. He was Associate Minister at St Martins, Sherwood in Nottingham. Outside of work he was a great cook, a lover of live music events, a hill walker, an avid reader, enjoyed “shooting the breeze” with friends, spoke warmly and lovingly of his family, and indubitably possessed a remarkably eclectic collection of shirts.

He is survived by his wife Bridget, whom he married in 1989, and their two sons, Sam and Luke, and daughter, Naomi, all of whom he was immensely proud. The audiology and hearing science community remember each of them, and the extended family, at this time.

Kevin J Munro
Michael A Akeroyd
Judith C Bird
With grateful thanks for contributions from colleagues and friends

The post Reverend Professor David M Baguley, 1961-2022 appeared first on Hearing Matters.