Archive for March, 2009

Hearing Aids in Africa - a need and a challenge

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

There are millions of people in need of hearing aids in Africa and getting them there and keeping them working presents an amazing number of challenges. Consider the basic math on the batteries. The batteries go fast and can cost up to $1 — with the average wage of people in the country as low as $1 a day.

Howard Weinstein, a business man from Calgary, decided to face this challenge as a way to make money and do some good at the same time. On a trip to Africa, standing under the hot sun, he had his idea: inexpensive rechargeable solar batteries.

After contacting various CEOs for advice, and receiving a small grant, Weinstein partnered with Sound Design to come up with the SolarAid hearing aid. It looks like a normal hearing aid, but runs on cheap rechargeable batteries that run on solar power.

Starting with very little, SolarAid is now a fast-growing company with 20,000 users in 30 countries using the hearing aid. And the growth potential is enormous. The WHO estimates that over 250 million people world-wide are in need of a hearing aid — and SolarAid is ready to help them all.

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Don’t Hide Your Hearing Aid!

Monday, March 23rd, 2009

A very cool new initiative is being announced in the world of hearing aids, instead of hiding them, people are choosing to make them an accessory. Millions of baby boomers are coming of age and these people have hurt their hearing at Nascar, rock concerts and more. These people are hip and not afraid to show their personality. These people are using hearing aids that don’t blend in with flesh colors, they are using exciting colors and designs that draw attention to their hearing aids.

This is a beautiful revolution. Hearing aids are nothing to be ashamed of or hidden. The Siemens corporation is making the Vibe hearing aid that is leading the way in this new “be proud” hearing aid movement.

The great thing is that there are real role models in this movement. Bob Wier of the Grateful Dead is wearing a hearing aid in the Vivatone ads recently.

Another feature adding to the hipness of the new hearing aids is that they can be used as phones, ipod devices and more. Don’t think of these hearing aids as old devices for old people. These are cool products that can do many things around sound amplification.

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Hearing Aid Return Policies are not protected

Friday, March 20th, 2009

In a very interesting article a woman from Wisconsin has pointed out that while cars, mortgages and more are protected by the state lemons laws hearing aids are not. Why is this?

While it is frustrating to know that us hearing aid supporters are not protected by the state, there are things we can do. Be sure to get in writing any promises that are made to your regarding hearing aid returns when you make your purchase. The sellers are obligated to let you know the cost to return the hearing aid if there is indeed a return policy.
The real point of this post is to point out that there are people who shoot to abuse buyers of hearing aids in the return policy. Go into buying your hearing aid with eyes wide open and demand information to be given to you at all times.

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Are you angry with your hearng aid?

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009

More and more I am reading articles and blog entries which are people complaining about the hearing aid industry. We have looked at the less-than-perfect insurance issues regarding hearing aids. Let’s talk a bit about quality in general from hearing aids.

The NY Times posted a (not very funny) joke today in an article looking at people’s frustration with hearing aids. It went something like this. Man says to his buddy “I just got an amazing new hearing aid. Brand new technology and it cost me $3,300″ Man two says “Cool - what kind is it” Response “2:30″

Well, maybe it is kind of funny.

This blog entry is meant to be less scientific and more feeling based. How are people feeling about their hearing aids? Are you happy? Are they getting better? Are they frustrating??

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Wired Magazine takes a hard look at hearing aids

Monday, March 16th, 2009

In a very hard hitting and often accurate article, Wired magazine lets out a load of frustration on the world of hearing aids. In a nutshell they ask - why do glasses work so well to improve vision, cost less than $200, have unchanged technology and are covered by insurance usually WHEN none of that is true for hearing aids?

Hearing aid sticker shock is not uncommon as Wired magazine points out, they can often fun over $3,000. Additionally, hearing aid technology does not improve the situation and is very rarely covered by insurance.

Why are hearing aids so expensive? Wired points out in this article that most all parts of the hearing aid are created from scratch eliminating any benefits from the economy of scale. Additionally, microphones used by hearing aids need to be unidirectional to be good. This adds to the cost as well.

Final shot are the ‘air-triggered’ batteries that begin giving off power once the tab is removed. This is brutal on cost to the users.

All the while, insurance companies are not helping because the problem and need for hearing aids is so massive. Over 30 million Americans could use a hearing aid.

Hearing aids are wonderful but could use a great deal of improvement in many areas.

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Hearing Aids and Health Insurance

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

There is so much to say and discuss around the issue of hearing aids and health insurance it is hard to know where to start. On this post, I want to simply look at a piece published on About.com regarding health insurance and hearing aids.

There is a line in their first paragraph that grabbed me and told me I needed to write a post.  Here is the line that got me - “While it is understandable that they would refuse to cover them for older adults on the grounds that too many people would want or need them, what about children?”

I am no insurance expert but does high demand now pass for a reason to not insure? Just because many old people need hearing aids, why should the insurance companies not insure them? Anyone have ans answer?

I like where this guy is going with his thought - 100% every child in need of a hearing aid should be given the insurance money to get one, but let’s fight for the adults as well.

No doubt about it, it is a very complicated issue but at the end of the day we need to get people the hearing aids they need. Has anyone on this site experienced a negative battle with insurance companies regarding hearing aids? How about a positive story?

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Hearing aid battery exciting news!

Sunday, March 8th, 2009

I touched on it a bit in the last post but I wanted to commit an entire offering to the launch of Zero Mercury hearing aid batteries by Energizer. This is a major announcement for hearing aid batteries - a field who has had rather stagnant technological growth over the last decade.

The National Electronic Manufacturers have set a goal of removing Mercury from all batteries by 2011 and Energizer has set the standard by making this announcement as early as 2008! Energizer is now offering the only hearing aid battery that has no mercury to consumers.

Of equaly importance, Energizer points out that the mercury free hearing aid batteries do not drop in performance. This commitment to both the health of hearing aid users and the environment is wonderful to see and the team at Hearing Aids 1000 commends Energizer for this.

This step by Energizer follows the pattern that they set by removing all mercury from from household batteries in 1990. They were the leaders in this movement as well.

Certainly Duracell and other companies will follow the lead set by Energizer in the realm of hearing aids. The sooner the better is our thought on this and until they have, lets all reward energizer by purchasing their hearing aid batteries!

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Hearing Aid Battery recognized by arthritis foundation

Friday, March 6th, 2009

It is no secret that often hearng loss can go hand in hand with arthritis. It is also no secret that replacing the batteries on a hearing aid can be quite a wrestling match for anyone, let alone someone with arthritic hands.

Duracell recently reported that their hearing aid batteries were recognized by the US national arthritis foundation as the best designed for arthritic people. Duracell proudly points out that the tabs on their hearing aid batteries are the longest on the market, in turn giving them an ease of use over others in the space.

The Duracell battery that has won the award is named the EasyTab battery and the tag line for their ad campaign was We hear you. Kudos to Duracell for creating the EasyTab hearing aid battery and kudos to the Arthritis foundation for recognizing their good work.

This news of Duracell’s achievement is the most exciting in the hearing aid battery space since Energizer announced that after 10 years of testing they have developed a zero-mercury hearing aid battery. Energizer, located in Vermont, celebrated their launch of zero-mercury batteries by donating them to needing seniors in the Vermont area.

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Lions Club Hearing aid project should be the model

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

In 2004 the Lions club actually put up $600,000 in an effort to develop a low cost hearing aid for low income people. The Lions recognized the fact that way too many people around the world who need hearing aids are simply not able to afford them and therefore go without. This isn’t acceptable and this project by the Lions club should be the model for many companies moving forward.

The Lions club and many other organizations have been providing used hearing aids and other health related devices to low income people around the world for years. The concept of taking the giving one step further by actually manufacturing a low cost hearing aid is brilliant, aggressive and worth emulating outside of the hearing aid space. I am going to do some research on the success of their project and will report back. If anyone knows how it went or how similar projects in other verticals have faired, please comment.

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Open Fit hearing aids and restaurants

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

It is no secret that many people who wear hearing aids have simply chosen to avoid restaurants all together. Many agree that the noisy, hectic atmosphere of a busy restaurant poses the greatest challenge for a hearing aid wearer. If you think about the hundreds of sounds all happening at once this is no surprise.

Certainly open ear hearing aids are the best option for such an environment but a study a Washington University went further to attempt to find the best solution.

Washington University went so far as to record the sounds of a busy New York restaurant to recreate in their labs.

The experiment/study showed that open canal hearing combined with a hearing aid with a directional mic provided 20% better results than the others.

The open fit hearing aids have been around for over 5 years now and are truly are designed for people who have solid low frequency hearing but suffer in the higher ranges where conversation often occurs.

End of the day, if you or a loved one is using a hearing aid and frustrated with the loud-restaurant experience, be sure to recommend that they tray an open fit hearing aid with a directional microphone.

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