HEAR-Aware app for adults not ready for a hearing aid.
This project was a collaboration between Amsterdam UMC and private partners Sonova AG and Schoonenberg HoorSupport. This project developed the smartphone HEAR-Aware app. EverywhereIM built the app. Hearing loss is highly prevalent. While hearing aids are standard care, many adults with hearing loss are not willing to use hearing aids. They remain unserved. This is a societal challenge (Mission III). The HEAR-Aware app aims to address this challenge.
Three studies were conducted:
- Needs assessment among potential app users resulting in Prototype I.
- Pilot-testing of Prototype 2 in 27 adults with hearing loss.
- Evaluation of the HEAR-Aware app through a randomised controlled trial (ISRCTN, number93742150).
The HEAR-Aware app helps to self-manage hearing problems. It provides information about how to recognise hearing loss, how to deal with problems arising from it and what strategies to use to improve hearing. Uniqueness of the app is its real-time character: once users indicate in what listening situation they are, the app releases snippets of information relevant for that situation.
Results showed that HEAR-Aware app users were more willing to do something about emotional problems related to their hearing loss than non-users (controls). They were also more willing to try out alternative hearing devices compared to the controls.
The potential societal and economic impact is large; provision and use of an app is relatively easy and cheap. It is a form of digital care (Mission II) and innovative. Scientifically, RCTs are still scarce in Audiology and almost no products like this app have been developed and evaluated in such a thorough way. Results were presented at scientific and clinical conferences. Study 1 has been published (Pronk et al., Am J Audiol, 2020; Pronk & Versfeld, Geron, 2020). The article on study 2 is under review in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The article on Study 3 is in preparation.
