The loss of hearing - be it gradual or acute, mild or severe, present since birth or acquired in older age - can have significant effects on one's communication abilities, quality of life, social participation, and health. Despite this, many people with hearing loss do not seek or receive hearing health care. The reasons are numerous, complex, and often interconnected. For some, hearing health care is not affordable. For others, the appropriate services are difficult to access, or individuals do not know how or where to access them. Others may not want to deal with the stigma that they and society may associate with needing hearing health care and obtaining that care. Still others do not recognize they need hearing health care, as hearing loss is an invisible health condition that often worsens gradually over time. In the United States, an estimated 30 million individuals (12.7 percent of Americans ages 12 years or older) have hearing loss. Globally, hearing loss has been identified as the fifth leading cause of years lived with disability. Successful hearing health care enables individuals with hearing loss to have the freedom to communicate in their environments in ways that are culturally appropriate and that preserve their dignity and function. Hearing Health Care for Adults focuses on improving the accessibility and affordability of hearing health care for adults of all ages. This study examines the hearing health care system, with a focus on non-surgical technologies and services, and offers recommendations for improving access to, the affordability of, and the quality of hearing health care for adults of all ages.

The U.S. Census Bureau has reported that 56.7 million Americans had some type of disability in 2010, which represents 18.7 percent of the civilian noninstitutionalized population included in the 2010 Survey of Income and Program Participation. The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) provides disability benefits through the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. As of December 2015, approximately 11 million individuals were SSDI beneficiaries, and about 8 million were SSI beneficiaries. SSA currently considers assistive devices in the nonmedical and medical areas of its program guidelines. During determinations of substantial gainful activity and income eligibility for SSI benefits, the reasonable cost of items, devices, or services applicants need to enable them to work with their impairment is subtracted from eligible earnings, even if those items or services are used for activities of daily living in addition to work. In addition, SSA considers assistive devices in its medical disability determination process and assessment of work capacity. The Promise of Assistive Technology to Enhance Activity and Work Participation provides an analysis of selected assistive products and technologies, including wheeled and seated mobility devices, upper-extremity prostheses, and products and technologies selected by the committee that pertain to hearing and to communication and speech in adults.

Millions of Americans experience some degree of hearing loss. The Social Security Administration (SSA) operates programs that provide cash disability benefits to people with permanent impairments like hearing loss, if they can show that their impairments meet stringent SSA criteria and their earnings are below an SSA threshold. The National Research Council convened an expert committee at the request of the SSA to study the issues related to disability determination for people with hearing loss. This volume is the product of that study. Hearing Loss: Determining Eligibility for Social Security Benefits reviews current knowledge about hearing loss and its measurement and treatment, and provides an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the current processes and criteria. It recommends changes to strengthen the disability determination process and ensure its reliability and fairness. The book addresses criteria for selection of pure tone and speech tests, guidelines for test administration, testing of hearing in noise, special issues related to testing children, and the difficulty of predicting work capacity from clinical hearing test results. It should be useful to audiologists, otolaryngologists, disability advocates, and others who are concerned with people who have hearing loss.

Affirmative legislative action in many countries now requires that public spaces and services be made accessible to disabled people. Although this is often interpreted as access for people with mobility impairments, such legislation also covers those who are hearing or vision impaired. In these cases, it is often the provision of advanced technological devices and aids which enables people with sensory impairments to enjoy the theatre, cinema or a public meeting to the full. Assistive Technology for the Hearin-impaired, Deaf and Deafblind shows the student of rehabilitation technology how this growing technical provision can be used to support those with varying reductions in auditory ability and the deafblind in modern society. Features: instruction in the physiology of the ear together with methods of measurement of hearing levels and loss; the principles of electrical engineering used in assistive technology for the hearing impaired; description and demonstration of electrical engineering used in hearing aids and other communications enhancement technologies; explanation of many devices designed for every-day living in terms of generic electrical engineering; sections of practical projects and investigations which will give the reader ideas for student work and for self teaching. The contributors are internationally recognised experts from the fields of audiology, electrical engineering, signal processing, telephony and assistive technology. Their combined expertise makes Assistive Technology for the Hearing-impaired, Deaf and Deafblind an excellent text for advanced students in assistive and rehabilitation technology and to professional engineers and medics working in assistive technology who wish to maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current engineering advances.

FUNDAMENTALS AND METHODS OF MACHINE AND DEEP LEARNING The book provides a practical approach by explaining the concepts of machine learning and deep learning algorithms, evaluation of methodology advances, and algorithm demonstrations with applications. Over the past two decades, the field of machine learning and its subfield deep learning have played a main role in software applications development. Also, in recent research studies, they are regarded as one of the disruptive technologies that will transform our future life, business, and the global economy. The recent explosion of digital data in a wide variety of domains, including science, engineering, Internet of Things, biomedical, healthcare, and many business sectors, has declared the era of big data, which cannot be analysed by classical statistics but by the more modern, robust machine learning and deep learning techniques. Since machine learning learns from data rather than by programming hard-coded decision rules, an attempt is being made to use machine learning to make computers that are able to solve problems like human experts in the field. The goal of this book is to present a??practical approach by explaining the concepts of machine learning and deep learning algorithms with applications. Supervised machine learning algorithms, ensemble machine learning algorithms, feature selection, deep learning techniques, and their applications are discussed. Also included in the eighteen chapters is unique information which provides a clear understanding of concepts by using algorithms and case studies illustrated with applications of machine learning and deep learning in different domains, including disease prediction, software defect prediction, online television analysis, medical image processing, etc. Each of the chapters briefly described below provides both a chosen approach and its implementation. Audience Researchers and engineers in artificial intelligence, computer scientists as well as software developers.

"Cochlear Implants and Other Implantable Hearing Devices, Second Edition remains a fundamental text for hearing professionals. Cochlear implants and other implantable hearing mechanisms have become increasingly prevalent solutions to modern-day hearing trauma, making it imperative for clinicians to gain expertise on the subject. This text provides hearing professionals with the knowledge necessary to wholly understand these implantable mechanisms so that they can incorporate them into their practices"--

Evidence based practice (EBP) has proponents in all areas of healthcare and was endorsed in a technical report in 2004 and a position statement in 2005 by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Despite this, there is no text on EBP with specific application to audiology. It is particularly important in audiology, where there are various interventions to assist people with hearing impairment and a growing body of research evidence that needs to be appraised by clinicians and researchers. This comprehensive book describes the principles of EBP as they apply to the evaluation of audiologic interventions in children and adults. The reader will learn the process of EBP, as well as gain knowledge on the evidence relating to specific interventions. Evidence Based Practice in Audiology is divided into four sections. The first section describes principles of EBP, including how to evaluate evidence and how to facilitate evidence based decisions with clients. The remaining three sections provide a discussion of the best available evidence about hearing aids, cochlear implants, and other interventions. These three sections contain chapters written by leading international authors who summarize the best available evidence, highlight where further evidence is needed, and recommend how further evidence should be collected and applied in the clinic. The book ends with an appendix that contains recommended measures for the collection of evidence about different audiologic interventions. Evidence Based Practice in Audiology is a highly valued resource for students, researchers, clinical audiologists, other health professionals and policy makers. For students, the book can be used for learning about research methods and about outcomes of interventions for children and adults with hearing impairment. For researchers, the book provides a useful summary of available research on important topics in habilitation and rehabilitation and may assist them to design future research studies. For clinical audiologists, the book can help them understand what evidence is and how this can be applied in clinical practice. Other health professionals who can benefit from this book include ENTs, pediatricians, geriatricians, GPs, nurses, and aged care workers. The book can also guide policy makers and third-party payers in their decisions about allocation of resources. The text is written with sufficient information for readers with different backgrounds and experience and careful attention has been paid to presenting complex information in an easy to understand format. Evidence Based Practice in Audiology is edited by two leading academics in research in audiologic interventions. These editors have a rich clinical experience working with children and adults with hearing impairment and with other health professionals

Essentials of Modern Hearing Aids: Selection, Fitting, and Verification is a comprehensive textbook, ideal for graduate-level amplification courses in audiology programs. It also is the ultimate go-to reference for anyone fitting and dispensing hearing aids. This is truly an "A to Z" textbook, with topics including audiologic prefitting testing, needs assessment and treatment planning, hearing aid selection, verification, orientation and counseling, post-fitting follow-up, and real-world validation. Moreover, a substantial portion of the book reviews the underlying up-to-date design and function of digital hearing aid components, circuitry and processing, the wide assortment of hearing aid features, and the many algorithms that make these features work successfully. The world-renowned authors have included numerous prefitting and post-fitting tests that can be conducted along with step-by-step protocols for their administration and scoring. They also review the selection of hearing aid styles and fitting arrangements, explain the process of obtaining an ear impression, and making critical decisions regarding earmolds and hearing aid plumbing. Essentials of Modern Hearing Aidsprovides guidance for selecting prescriptive fitting approaches and detailed protocols for the use of behavioral measures and real-ear speech mapping to both verify the fitting and assess special hearing aid features. Follow-up care and validation options also are reviewed, with detailed guidelines for using a wide range of outcome measures. Key Features Included throughout the text are short paragraphs identified as "Technical Tips," "Key Concepts," "Things to Remember," "Points to Ponder," and "Soapbox" for quick reference.The text covers both foundation and direct clinical application.The veteran authors have over 100 years of combined experience in day-to-day patient care and clinical research.The book is infused with humor throughout! Written in an accessible and easy-to-read style, this text includes not only reference information, but also tools supported by research and clinical experience. The information is presented in a way that is both accessible to clinical students with little experience in the field and with enough depth for even the serious hearing aid researcher. The text is also appropriate as a handy companion for busy clinicians - a friendly resource where they can quickly find critical information needed for the next patient. *Disclaimer: Please note that ancillary content (such as documents, audio, and video, etc.) may not be included as published in the original print version of this book.