HLAA September/October 2009 - 19

Newsroom NIDCD Welcomes Five New Members to its Advisory Council James Battey, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), National Institutes of Health, welcomed ﬁve new members to the NIDCD Advisory Council during the Council’s regular meeting on June 5, 2009, at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Council advises the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the director of the NIH, and the director of the NIDCD on matters relating to the conduct and support of research and research training, health information. Executive Director Brenda Battat was appointed as a new member of the Council. The term for Council members is four years. Former Executive Directors Rocky Stone and Donna Sorkin also served on the Council. The NIDCD was established in 1988 after urging from medical, professional and consumer groups to establish the Institute. HLAA (SHHH at the time) was instrumental in getting this Institute established for the support of research and information for people with hearing loss. HLAA’s participation on the Council will ensure that research and issues important to people who are hard of hearing will be considered. NIDCD supports and conducts research and research training on the normal and disordered processes of hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech and language and provides health information, based upon scientiﬁc discovery, to the public. For more information about NIDCD programs, go to www.nidcd.nih.gov. Hearing Aids Have Positive Impact on Quality of Life Issues Beneﬁts to Wearing Hearing Aids Worth the Cost With the struggling economy, everyone is trying to save money. People are eating out less and staying home instead of taking vacations. Unfortunately, at times like this, there also is a tendency for people with hearing loss to forego physician-recommended treatments, such as hearing aids. “Patients are coming in to have their hearing tested and even after the tests show a hearing loss signiﬁcant enough that a hearing aid would help them, patients are deciding not to get hearing aids right now,” said Allen Senne, Au.D., director of audiology and hearing aid dispensing at the House Clinic. Hearing professionals at the House Ear Institute (HEI) and House Clinic encourage people experiencing a hearing loss to think twice before trying to save money by not getting hearing aids when recommended. The positive impact that today’s hearing aids can have on a hearing loss patient’s quality of life, including their career success, usually far outweighs the initial investment. Hearing loss left untreated with hearing aids can negatively affect a person’s quality of life. Over time, a person may ﬁnd themselves not wanting to go out or be with friends because they ﬁnd it difﬁcult to participate in conversations. A 2007 study by the Better Hearing Institute suggests untreated hearing loss negatively impacts household income by almost $23,000 per year. However, the study found a person using hearing aids can restore lost income by 50 percent. Top row, from left to right: Dr. James Battey, Dr. Rickie Davis, Dr. William Brownell and Dr. John Niparko. Bottom row, from left: Dr. Karen Friderici and Brenda Battat. 24 Hearing Loss Magazine

HLAA September/October 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of HLAA September/October 2009