As the owner and lead audiologist at the Hearing Health Clinic, I have spent several years applying my discoveries to my clinical application, and believe that understanding a patient’s cognitive abilities alongside their hearing capabilities can help understand the patient’s listening and communication skills in their daily life. 

In my studies, I have found a significant gap between what is found in research and what is applied in clinical audiology; there is significant research about the need in audiology to shift forward to a functional communication needs assessment and treatment plans for age-related hearing loss (presbycusis), but there is little guidance available on applying these assessments and treatment plans. 

We see people, not just patients. I aim to help as many people as I can with not just their hearing, but the central aspects of their ears, including their listening and communication skills. Applying a “top-down” assessment and treatment to my practice has improved patient outcomes and satisfaction significantly, as well as allowing better counsel from the professional toward optimal treatment decisions.  

This proposed project would allow us to answer some key questions to how we can better apply a more holistic hearing health approach in the audiology clinic.