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Semi implantable bone conduction devices: challenges and developments

Bone conduction mechanisms and history of bone conduction aids Bone conduction hearing devices work by stimulating hair cells via the bone conduction hearing pathways. These pathways are less well understood than the air conduction pathways, but recent research has shown...

Screening for hearing aid fittings – an approach for primary care

Introduction The communication difficulties related to hearing loss can lead to ‘depression, social withdrawal and problems with employment and access to information sources’ [1]. Furthermore, unmanaged hearing loss is associated with dementia, a poorer quality of life, depression, anxiety and...

The ear-brain connection: the role of cognition in neural speech processing

Audiologists and other hearing healthcare professionals have become increasingly interested in the importance of cognitive function in the assessment and management of hearing loss, especially in light of evidence suggesting a link between hearing loss and cognitive decline in older...

Evidence based practice in paediatric audiology

Audiology, like most of the health sciences professions, has been working on integrating evidence-based practice principles since the mid-1990s [1]. Professional organisations and regulatory colleges have produced evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, disseminated them to audiologists and collaborated with practitioners to...

Audiological monitoring in ototoxicity - Are we doing enough?

In this article Ghada Al-Malky explores the dichotomy of life-saving, yet hearing loss-causing medication, and questions whether the hearing healthcare community is doing enough to prevent preventable hearing loss. Ototoxicity is the damage to hearing and / or balance functions...

Understanding new and emerging categories of hearing devices

The hearing device landscape is rapidly changing, and what should be given, to whom, and why, are questions that many hearing healthcare professionals are asking. Brent Edwards discusses these questions and how consumer characteristics may influence their choice. In 2016,...

MDT clinics for adults with learning disabilities and hearing loss

Healthcare providers can have limitations and challenges providing optimum care for patients with intellectual disabilities. Siobhan Brennan and Susanna Goodhart highlight key professionals and carers who may be instrumental when trying to deliver good management and care along with other...

A snapshot of UK newborn hearing screening services during the COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, new guidance for newborn hearing screening programmes and management of audiology referrals was released by Public Health England [1,2]. There was also joint guidance from the UK professional bodies [3] and guidance from NHS England regarding...

The benefits of mindfulness for tinnitus

Mindfulness-based psychological therapy for tinnitus has, in recent times, been the subject of well-designed clinical research that demonstrated impressive benefits. Dr Liz Marks guides us through this field, and advocates for better access and availability of these techniques. Mindfulness can...

The role of prediction and gain in tinnitus

Dr Will Sedley is a Clinical Academic Neurologist who has done groundbreaking work in the field of tinnitus mechanisms. Here, he introduces and explains the concepts of prediction and of gain as they relate to troublesome tinnitus. This article focuses...

Hearing loss and cognition: something to think about

Irace, Chern and Golub propose causal and non-causal mechanisms for the links between hearing loss and dementia, concluding with a discussion of several proactive measures available to help preserve neurocognitive health in older adults with hearing loss. What is age-related...

Innovative approaches to treating deafness

Shahar Taiber and Karen Avraham give us a summary of gene therapies for hearing loss, with an overview of limitations and what the future holds. Hearing loss is the most common sensory disorder. The last two decades have seen a...