The loss of hearing - be it gradual or acute, mild or severe, present since birth or acquired in older age - can have significant effects on one's communication abilities, quality of life, social participation, and health. Despite this, many people with hearing loss do not seek or receive hearing health care. The reasons are numerous, complex, and often interconnected. For some, hearing health care is not affordable. For others, the appropriate services are difficult to access, or individuals do not know how or where to access them. Others may not want to deal with the stigma that they and society may associate with needing hearing health care and obtaining that care. Still others do not recognize they need hearing health care, as hearing loss is an invisible health condition that often worsens gradually over time. In the United States, an estimated 30 million individuals (12.7 percent of Americans ages 12 years or older) have hearing loss. Globally, hearing loss has been identified as the fifth leading cause of years lived with disability. Successful hearing health care enables individuals with hearing loss to have the freedom to communicate in their environments in ways that are culturally appropriate and that preserve their dignity and function. Hearing Health Care for Adults focuses on improving the accessibility and affordability of hearing health care for adults of all ages. This study examines the hearing health care system, with a focus on non-surgical technologies and services, and offers recommendations for improving access to, the affordability of, and the quality of hearing health care for adults of all ages.

Hearing Instrument Technology for the Hearing Healthcare Professional, 2E brings together modern material for the highly specialized are of hearing instrument acousticians in hearing instrument technology. Beginning with an overview of hearing instrument technology from the beginning to the "digital" era, the text covers hearing instrument types and statistics on these instruments, hearing instrument measurements, transducers, acoustic modifications, hearing instrument functions, accessories, and troubleshooting, digital hearing instruments, and audiological background.

We would like to acknowledge VCCA2020-Organizer Jan-Willem Wasmann, who has acted as coordinator and has contributed to the preparation of the proposal for this Research Topic. Dr. Qinglin Meng is working on an audio project for Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. Dr. Jing Chen is working on research projects with Sonova AG. Dr. Fan-Gang Zeng owns stock in Axonics, Nurotron, Syntiant, Velox and Xsense. Dr. Dennis Barbour founded and owns equity in Bonauria. All other Topic Editor declare no conflicts of interest.

Digital Hearing Aids is an essential reference for information about the latest innovations in digital hearing aid technology. Concise descriptions and easy-to-reference tables and diagrams enable the reader to rapidly gain a solid understanding of digital signal processing, including such important topics as adaptive acoustic directionality, adaptive noise reduction, adaptive feedback cancellation, and sound classification. The book is divided into three main sections, with the first section providing an overview of foundational concepts, the second section presenting detailed analysis of state-of-the-art processing techniques, and the third section describing specific technical aspects of digital processing. Highlights: Each chapter opens with a brief overview of topics and questions, rapidly orienting the reader with the scope of the material presented Mathematical examples in the third section of the book allow the reader to work through practical calculations, comprehend the nuts and bolts of the processing schemes, and understand the benefits and limitations of each More than 170 illustrations and diagrams aid the comprehension of key concepts This handbook is ideal for audiologists, otolaryngologists, speech-language pathologists, and for other professionals involved in the applications of digital signal processing.

The U.S. Census Bureau has reported that 56.7 million Americans had some type of disability in 2010, which represents 18.7 percent of the civilian noninstitutionalized population included in the 2010 Survey of Income and Program Participation. The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) provides disability benefits through the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. As of December 2015, approximately 11 million individuals were SSDI beneficiaries, and about 8 million were SSI beneficiaries. SSA currently considers assistive devices in the nonmedical and medical areas of its program guidelines. During determinations of substantial gainful activity and income eligibility for SSI benefits, the reasonable cost of items, devices, or services applicants need to enable them to work with their impairment is subtracted from eligible earnings, even if those items or services are used for activities of daily living in addition to work. In addition, SSA considers assistive devices in its medical disability determination process and assessment of work capacity. The Promise of Assistive Technology to Enhance Activity and Work Participation provides an analysis of selected assistive products and technologies, including wheeled and seated mobility devices, upper-extremity prostheses, and products and technologies selected by the committee that pertain to hearing and to communication and speech in adults.

The digitization of healthcare has become almost ubiquitous in recent years, spreading from healthcare organizations into the homes and personal appliances of practically every citizen. Thanks to the collective efforts of health professionals, patients and care providers as well as systems developers and researchers, the entire population of Europe is able to participate in and enjoy the benefits of digitized health information. This book presents the proceedings of the 26th Medical Informatics in Europe Conference (MIE2015), held in Madrid, Spain, in May 2015. The conference brings together participants who share their latest achievements in biomedical and health Informatics, including the role of the user in digital healthcare, and provides a forum for discussion of the inherent challenges to design and adequately deploy ICT tools, the assessment of health IT interventions, the training of users and the exploitation of available information and knowledge to further the continuous and ubiquitous availability and interoperability of medical information systems. Contributions address methodologies and applications, success stories and lessons learned as well as an overview of on-going projects and directions for the future. The book will be of interest to all those involved in the development, delivery and consumption of health and care information.

Covers the fundamentals of hearing instrument history and technology. Includes recent advances and trends and expanded coverage of digital hearing aids and FM systems. Halftone illustrations.