Question
How can hearing aids address the social-emotional well-being of our patients?
Answer
We all yearn for a long and fulfilling life, and patients are looking for ways that hearing intervention will improve their lives. The key to unlocking the secret of well-being lies not just in our genetics or lifestyle, but in something far more profound and interconnected: our social relationships.
Research has consistently shown that the quantity and quality of our social relationships have a profound impact on our overall well-being.
A 2010 meta-analytic review1 looked across 148 studies (and over 300,000 participants) and indicated that individuals with adequate social relationships have a 50% greater likelihood of survival compared to those with poor or insufficient social relationships. In other words, social relationships exceed many well-known risk factors for mortality like obesity, excessive alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity.
The story doesn't end there. We must also consider the impact of hearing loss. Individuals with hearing loss face multiple challenges—ones that go beyond the impairment of their auditory senses.
As hearing care providers are aware, with the loss of hearing comes the cascade of events resulting in a decreased quality of life. Due to this cascade, those with untreated hearing loss are more at risk for depression, loneliness, have poorer quality relationships with their significant others, and are more at risk for developing cognitive changes.
Here’s where you come in:
By enhancing communication and social interaction, hearing aids play a crucial role in strengthening social relationships. In quiet, Infinio features Speech Enhancer. This automatic feature has proven to improve speech intelligibility and reduce listening effort when the speaker is in an adjacent room, from afar, or just has a soft voice. This can be helpful at home when people are having conversations from a room away, or at a private appointment with a physician, allied health provider, financial advisor, veterinarian, etc. I
And when the going gets tough, Infinio rises to the challenge. With Infinio-R, your patients are going to benefit from our directionality approaches like UltraZoom and StereoZoom that have shown to improve speech intelligibility, decrease listening effort and allow people to be more active in challenging listening situations.
Infinio Sphere takes hearing in noise a step further with our DEEPSONIC chip, the world’s first dedicated AI chip that instantly separates speech from noise. DEEPSONIC powers Spheric Speech Clarity, which can deliver up to 10 dB SNR benefit so your patients can be in the moment, with ease, with confidence, and with connection.
The combination of the HCP expertise and the functionality of hearing aids that improve speech understanding and reduce listening effort allows your patients to foster relationships and move confidently throughout the world. For more information about Phonak products, visit Phonak.com or reach out to your local Phonak representative.
- Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Layton JB (2010) Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review. PLoS Med 7(7): e1000316. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316
