Within that 272-page document, it also acknowledged that ‘the number of people living with unaddressed hearing loss and ear diseases is unacceptable’. Within the UK alone, statistics show that it takes people, on average, 10 years to address a hearing-related issue.

Quite simply, that number needs to be brought down.

In line with the report’s release last year and WHO pushing the importance of preventative care, I spoke about the need for a national screening initiative in the UK for adults.

While we’re no further down the line of seeing something like that implemented, we did see significant progress in two other areas that are pushing the agenda of hearing care and raising vital awareness.

The growth of media representation has made an impact

Without a doubt, last year’s report was useful on a global level to help raise awareness around the importance of hearing as well as hearing care.

WHO’s World Hearing Day initiative, which happens every year, is always a good opportunity for our industry to continue raising the profile, penetrate different communication platforms, and promote vital messages.

Previously, we’ve been largely reliant on days like that to get important information and messages out, but, particularly in the second half of last year, we saw a significant shift in representation and inclusivity within the media.

As part of that, the topic of hearing has been recognised as something that, actually, doesn’t need to be a barrier.

People like Rose Ayling-Ellis going on shows like Strictly Come Dancing makes a huge impact and we saw that with the resurgence of people wanting to learn sign language. As part of this, I can’t fail to mention brands like ASOS representing hearing-related issues, as well as other TV programmes like Marvel’s Hawkeye, Eternals, A Quiet Place and The Walking Dead – films and shows that reach millions of people of all ages – for their representation.

All of those things are working towards demystifying the subject and helping wider audiences realise that there is great technology within the space of hearing care, that the world has changed and moved on.

What we’re seeing now is there is an expectation that people want to live and do so without being restricted by a condition. The age of people coming forward is also getting younger, which is great news, while the awareness we’re seeing within the media right now is helping people to come forward.

However, media representation is not the only area aiding this.

Over-the-counter hearing aids are being hotly debated but are they a good or bad thing for the hearing care industry

The emergence of some of those big technology giants playing in this area has also helped open up a whole new conversation among people, with technology starting to become an enabler.

That leads us nicely on to the possible passing of legislation on over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid products in the USA. While that legislation is still being hotly debated and needs to go through the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), we’ve seen companies already talking about their products, assuming that it will go through.

BOSE has been part of that conversation. GN and Jabra, too. We still wonder how it will be received with EU Medical regulation, given that hearing aids are still classified as medical devices. It’ll be interesting to see how suppliers navigate around that issue during 2022.

If it gets approved in the USA and as the experience and volume of experience grow, so too will the confidence around OTC products.

That – that initial experience with OTC hearing aids – is what is key here. When people start to see more positive outcomes and around growing the market, getting people to embrace preventative technology earlier, then I think we will see those products push into Europe.

In order for that to be successful, we need to make sure that the products meet the experience level that people expect when they are experimenting. It needs to be positive. One bad experience could put a customer off. It’s a real knife-edge to get that right.

Leaving someone on their own to figure that out is a risk. These products are creating greater awareness and are normalising hearing-related issues, but those first experiences need to be protected.

Final thoughts

Ultimately, we want people to understand that getting your hearing checked is easy and is as important as getting your eyes and teeth checked. It needs to be wrapped up in the same conversation.

Businesses and bodies, like Boots Hearingcare, promoting the link to hearing well means living well is part of that and plays into what WHO is saying in their report – that it is completely possible to live well across your life course with hearing loss, so long as you have the right intervention or have taken the right preventative care.

Hearing loss does not need to be disabling. Now more than ever, people need to stay connected to the world around them and, slowly, we’re starting to see that shift in mindset.

Article by Karen Shepherd, Director of Professional Standards at Boots Hearingcare

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He’s young, tech-savvy and a professional with an ambition to progress in his career. He has experienced hearing loss all his life, worn hearing aids throughout and always wrestled with a lack of confidence and self-consciousness because of it.

This customer is very real. He came to Boots Hearingcare recently and in addition to his small on the ear hearing solutions, we made some custom in-ear products for him. Essentially, it was a black faceplate that looks like a standard earbud, something that he could wear at night in order to be more aware should his baby cry. Beyond that, though, it enhanced his day-to-day life, made him feel comfortable and confident and removed awkward conversations he’d previously encountered when people saw his hearing aids.

Importantly, he felt connected throughout the day.

That customer has been blown away by how it’s changed his life – not in a revolutionary way, but by how it has simplified his life.

That cosmetic narrative in this conversation is what has allowed him to feel comfortable and confident. That accessibility is blurring the line of what is a hearing aid and just technology and is making the industry far more accessible.

That, of course, has been supported by the delivery of a superior experience.

Hearing aids are now multifunctional and even come with an app

You may remember a time when hearing aids came with fiddly controls that brought nothing but difficulty, especially for anyone that had dexterity issues.

That has advanced. A lot of hearing aids now come with an app on the phone, allowing the user to control the listening experience on a device they’re familiar with, while the ability for it to geotag and remember how an individual liked their settings is invaluable and is making the technology far more accessible and easier to control.

Bluetooth has also become a great enabler, helping a hearing aid go beyond what its name suggests. It’s making direct streaming music, radio, podcasts, and audiobooks as simple as it would be if you were wearing a pair of the latest Apple Airpods.

Initially, the limitation the industry faced was that hearing aids could be Bluetooth connected and paired to only one device at a time.

However, that barrier has also been totally removed. Not having the hassle of disconnecting from one device in order to connect with another is an important thing and just simplifies the way we go about our daily lives.

Image | Shutterstock.com

Hearing care pricing structures are more accessible than ever before

Recently, Boots Hearingcare launched its lowest ever price rechargeable hearing aid – the Starkey Livio 1000 R – available at less than £43 per month.

It’s easy to assume that the product will not be up to the same standard. Yes, it doesn’t offer full flexibility when it comes to bluetooth pairing but does offer direct streaming capability with great sound quality. A product like this is significantly better than any old analogue-type hearing aid and has more features than our lowest entry priced hearing aids.

We know monthly payment plans are a good enabler for people to be able to access higher levels of technology than they otherwise would if they were paying for a product in one lump sum. Going back, many years ago now, the price was a shock factor.

This is still a high-end product, one with exceptional sound quality, and is just one example of how life-enabling technology, like this, is available at an affordable payment price, similar to what you would take out for a phone contract.

Image | Starkey Livio 1000 R

Steps being taken to make accessible tech more accessible

Remember the customer I referenced at the beginning? What I believe we will see is the industry take strides to get accessible hearing care tech in front of people, like him, at a much earlier stage in their journey.

The online hearing care sales market is still an issue, in that sense, that we’re trying to navigate around. I can definitely see people being able to walk into one of our stores and wanting to try some technology that they can pair to their phone – the type of person that, perhaps, is only enduring mild hearing loss.

By training assistants up, we will be able to still do the necessary tests, demonstrations  and recommend a product that is either hearing-focused or just wearable. It won’t be prescribed, but it will be a product that will fill that gap before we start opening discussions about thorough investigative assessments.

That type of over-the-counter type hearing care product is emerging in America. We know the tech giants are starting to play in this field and that’s something we need to embrace if we are to widen the market, especially when you consider that there are approximately four million people out there who could benefit and enjoy this technology now. People often wait until their hearing loss gets significantly disabling and impacting on the quality of life before they act, by this time they have missed out on a lot.

Hearing care products are becoming more accessible, affordable, aesthetically good, and multifunctional. In the meantime, we will embrace that in our mission to widen the market and, as a result, our hope is that people will come to us sooner to ensure they enjoy an enhanced quality of life and can stay connected.

Written by Karen Shepherd, Director of Professional Standards at Boots Hearingcare

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Led by Sonova, the global leaders in hearing care innovation, the concept of World of Hearing began in 2018. After opening stores across Europe, the fitting of the UK-first store took place earlier this year in a former Boots Opticians store in Welwyn Garden City.

Boots Hearingcare’s World of Hearing store provides customers with a new immersive hearing care experience, utilising state-of-the-art technology, including a new immersion and experience room and self-screening suites, which enables the customer to experience the benefit of wearing hearing aids in many different, and typically challenging, environments.

As part of the experience, the suites remove the need to book an appointment, with the facilities opening up the opportunity for anyone to get a hearing test and speak with an expert whenever is convenient for them.

The new Welwyn Garden City clinic will also be where Boots Hearingcare trial its new products and services and develop its staff on the industry’s future technology.

Back in March, the World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted the importance of hearing care globally, stating that it should now be considered a public health priority. Within the report, WHO acknowledged that ‘the number of people living with unaddressed hearing loss and ear diseases is unacceptable’.

Fresh statistics show that people living in the UK enduring hearing loss take, on average, 10 years to address the issue. In the meantime, It is estimated that as many as four million people in the UK are currently living with unchecked hearing loss.

RNID – the national hearing loss charity – also reports that, in the UK, more than 40% of people over 50 years old have hearing loss, rising to more than 70% of people over the age of 70.

Speaking about the opening, Rob Skedge, Managing Director of Boots Hearingcare UK and Ireland, said: “Traditionally, hearing care hasn’t been an interactive experience. That’s something that both Boots Hearingcare and Sonova recognise needs to change if we are to break down barriers and the stigma that surround the topic of hearing care.

“That’s why this opening of the UK-first World of Hearing store in Welwyn Garden City is so important and so exciting. It represents an opportunity for us to revolutionise the way we think about the topic of hearing loss and how we communicate that message to the wider population and those people that need it.

“WHO’s report at the beginning of March really highlighted the importance of hearing care on a global scale. The latest information shows us that one in six of the UK adult population is affected, while it is thought that, specifically within the UK, approximately 600,000 people missed out on vital hearing care because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our long-term goal is to break down the barriers that have been in place and we believe this concept World of Hearing store represents a giant stride towards normalising the way we communicate about hearing care through a far more accessible, customer-centric, and technology-driven experience. It will truly be a fantastic experience and an amazing example of what we see as the future of audiology.”

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One of the biggest, still, is that people enduring hearing loss feel old. It’s often a matter that is dealt with in isolation, while a common trend with people who find themselves in this scenario is that they feel ‘ashamed’ or ‘embarrassed’ by it. For that reason, it takes on average 10 years for them to address it.

The truth is, though, that millions of people are going through exactly the same thing. At the beginning of March, the World Health Organization reported that more than 40% of over 50s in the UK have hearing loss. That figure jumps to 70% for over 70s.

So, why don’t people want to talk about it?

A large part of that answer lies in the solution: hearing aids. Historically, they were bulky pieces of kit that protruded the ear and made it plainly obvious to the world that the person wearing them had a problem. They weren’t fashionable and, if anything, put people off seeking hearing care.

However, the hearing technology we have at our fingertips is now is incomparable. They have evolved in the hearing instruments and have introduced a wealth of features to support far beyond just improving one’s hearing.

Bluetooth connectivity has become the norm. They connect with our everyday services, like streaming devices, TVs, and mobile phones. They’re also much smaller, to the extent that it makes Apple’s incredibly popular AirPods look big.

Alongside the vastly improved technology, there is a clear recognition that hearing care is immensely important. It’s leaped up the health agenda and is now recognised as one of the globe’s largest diseases.

So, what does the future look like for the industry and how do we go about breaking the stigma that surrounds it?

Technology advancements are blurring the lines between wearable and the prescribed product

The market is changing.

Earlier this month, Bose released a brand-new hearing aid product over in the USA, an over-the-counter product that has been cleared by the FDA. We’re seeing hearing correction and augmented audio coming together and entering the consumer field. It’s only a matter of time before those situational-type products become readily available.

Image | Shutterstock.com

There are already certain available products that have noise reduction and speech enhancing technology built into them now. That’s part of that blurring I alluded to and something that hearing aid manufacturers have been mindful of.

Hearing aids need to be able to do so much more. They are required to be multifunctional. For example, if it acted like those pair of Apple AirPods I referenced earlier, that would be deemed cool and something you don’t mind having in your ear for hours on end.

Having hearing aids that are multi-functional and not, in a sense, just a hearing aid, is going to be the difference.

The future of audiology is going to become far more technical

What we need to be careful of in audiology is where the boundary starts and stops between an over-the-counter product that doesn’t require intervention and when you need a prescribed hearing aid.

The hearing care technology industry is in the privileged position to be able to create a product that, yes, do all of these things we want it to in order to help with our day-to-day lives, but also serves the specific purpose of being tailored to each person’s specific hearing requirements.

That’s supported by the IDA Institute which recently said that 86% of people enduring hearing loss still said they want to see a professional audiologist and wouldn’t feel comfortable trusting an over-the-counter product.

There’s an onus on us to bring to life the experience and highlight the value of spending time with an audiologist. That involves talking about listening conditions, which includes having an individual’s hearing and speech understanding in noise measured

Taking that approach tells us how the brain is processing information and combining that with a tone audiogram will allow us to see what features are required in our hearing aids going forward and how they need to be set up.

Hearing care technology has to be able to offer a full-package service

Hearing technology is going to become far more easily available. Because of that, businesses, like Boots Hearingcare, need to answer the question: why should someone enduring hearing loss come to us over someone else?

Typically, we have bundled all of our services and the hearing aid into one cost. I think that we will see that become unbundled, to the stage where we will have a service menu and a product menu.

That will provide more transparency to the customer as to what they’re getting and the choices they have available when it comes to the technological solution. Wax removal as a service is, finally, something we have traction with.

Like that, there will be all these different types of add-on services that we will start to bring into our portfolio. It won’t just be about technology. It will be how we can actually help people and make a difference.

Article by Karen Shepherd, Director of Professional Standards at Boots Hearingcare

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