The NIDCD and NIA have strongly encouraged research leading to ?accessible and affordable hearing health care and improved outcomes? through new delivery systems in clinical settings. This is an especially significant problem for the rapidly growing 65+ population. Older adults are more prone to suboptimal hearing aid use and care because of their special learning needs, combined with insufficient time available for audiologists' ?after care? and the demonstrated inadequacy of hearing aid manufacturers' instruction manuals. We have hypothesized that effective hearing aid education/training reinforcement and follow-up care via new, personalized, easy-to-use technology will ensure more successful outcomes. In Phase I, in response to this public health need, Healthcare Technologies and Methods (HTM) developed and pilot-tested a novel prototype product we named TELLYHealthTM. This innovative, interactive, patient- centered product engaged older patients with hearing loss and ?connected them? with their audiologist. HTM developed novel design methods and sophisticated software that integrated standard televisions with interactive voice response and Internet technologies. To meet the educational reinforcement needs of older adults, HTM creatively applied ?human factors for the aging? and health literacy-appropriate content development methods. The 6-week pilot tests demonstrated the feasibility of TELLYHealthTM. On a 5-point Likert scale, subjects rated TELLYHealth`s ease of use 4.75 and their hearing aid satisfaction 4.42. The Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) and the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly (HHIE) revealed a significantly improved hearing aid benefit and a reduced hearing handicap, respectively. In Phase II, HTM will use the Phase I lessons and experiences to convert the prototype into a cost-effective, scalable TELLYHealthTM system that provides the additional functionality and educational content requested by patients and audiologists. Phase II content will include interactive lessons on real-world communications strategies to help all patients derive maximum value from their hearing aids. In addition, HTM will conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to quantify the benefits of TELLYHealthTM to patients and audiologists. The RCT aims to demonstrate that subjects using TELLYHealthTM will achieve statistically significant reductions in hearing handicap, and statistically significant higher scores in hearing aid knowledge, handling, use and communications strategies than those in the control group and that the audiologist will require less time to provide aftercare to subjects in the experimental group. Following Phase II, HTM will be prepared to market, sell and support TELLYHealthTM to organizations nationwide.
Inadequate patient education, training and follow-up by time-strapped audiologists contribute to patient dissatisfaction with hearing aids, often leading to hearing aids being used very infrequently, returned or relegated to a drawer. Because untreated hearing loss results in a 200- 300% increase in the risk of dementia, depression, and falls, it is imperative that older adults with hearing deficits be screened and fitted with hearing aids, and that steps are taken to ensure hearing aid acceptance, proper use, and continued satisfaction. Consequently, we propose a novel, cost-effective product specially designed for ease of use and acceptance by older adults called TELLYHealthTM: an interactive system that presents instructional videos on hearing aid use, maintenance, and communications strategies and other patient-centered features to reinforce patient self-efficacy and knowledge while transmitting valuable patient feedback to the audiologist.
