Interviews for Individuals with Hearing Aids

[c234ever]

Hello,

I am a student looking to interview a few individuals about their experience with hearing aids. The interview is only a few questions and can be done completely over the internet via email or even on this forum if you choose. I would greatly appreciate anyone willing to help, thanks in advance.

 

[X]

Hello, sure. What are the interview questions?

 

[c234ever]

Thank you so much for you help! Here are the questions:

1. How long have you worn your hearing aids?
2. For how long before you got your hearing aids did you suspect you had a hearing loss?
3. How long do you wear your hearing aids each day?
4. Do you feel like you get benefit from your hearing aids?
5. What complaints do you have about your hearing aids?
6. Do you feel like your hearing aids have lived up to what your audiologist or hearing aid dealer told you they would do?
7. Did you get your hearing aids from an audiologist or a hearing aid dealer?

 

[X]

1. How long have you worn your hearing aids?

My current ones? Since Q4 2006. If you mean how long I have been wearing hearing aids in general I think it went back as early as kindergarten, but I don't have a strong childhood memory of which year exactly.

2. For how long before you got your hearing aids did you suspect you had a hearing loss?

I've had several hearing aids, I assume you mean with this question is the first ones. In that case I think it was maybe a year or two as an infant.

3. How long do you wear your hearing aids each day?

Most of the day, except in conditions that don't require them or when I don't want to hear. Like swimming, biking, showering, etc. So factoring sleeping schedule I'd say a good 1/2 of the day at minimum?

4. Do you feel like you get benefit from your hearing aids?

Yes, if I don't wear them then I'm medically classified deaf.

5. What complaints do you have about your hearing aids?

The current ones are digital and do not have a volume control, and programming requires going to the audiologist.

6. Do you feel like your hearing aids have lived up to what your audiologist or hearing aid dealer told you they would do?

I think that is a double edged question, it's contextual and qualitative and each person may have different experiences. When I first got them, I wasn't used to them. Eventually I adjusted. I wouldn't say that they are 100% as described. It's kind of like learning to play an instrument. You have to be the one to adjust to it, not what the salesman told you if Beethoven played on it or something.

7. Did you get your hearing aids from an audiologist or a hearing aid dealer?

I've gotten from both. My last pair were from a dealer because they were cheaper and customized.

 

[c234ever]

Thank you so much for responding to the questions, I really appreciate it!

 

[Deanne]

1. How long have you worn your hearing aids? 3 years
2. For how long before you got your hearing aids did you suspect you had a hearing loss? About 5 years
3. How long do you wear your hearing aids each day? 16 hours
4. Do you feel like you get benefit from your hearing aids? yes
5. What complaints do you have about your hearing aids? They hurt my ears (behind, not the molds), the sound isn't as good or clear as 'normal' ears. They get in the way.
6. Do you feel like your hearing aids have lived up to what your audiologist or hearing aid dealer told you they would do? Eh, yeah, I guess. Of course, my audi mentioned me becoming thinner and being able to fly, but I took those two with a grain of salt
7. Did you get your hearing aids from an audiologist or a hearing aid dealer? Audi

 

[MCB]

1. How long have you worn hearing aids?
12 years (on my second pair)
2. For how long before you got your hearing aids did you suspect you had a hearing loss?
2 years
3. How long do you wear your hearing aids each day?
16 hr.
4. Do you feel like you get benefit from your hearing aids?
see #3
5. What complaints do you have about your hearing aids?
About four months after testing and retuning, I find myself lipreading again. They don't adjust themselves.
6. Do you feel like your hearing aids have lived up to what your audiologist or hearing aid dealer told you they would do?
They don't adjust themselves.
7. Did you get your hearing aids from an audiologist or a hearing aid dealer?
Aud. D.

 

[jeffrey]

12 years

Thank you so much for you help! Here are the questions:

1. How long have you worn your hearing aids?
I've worn hearing aids for 10 years. My current pair I've had for 1-year.
2. For how long before you got your hearing aids did you suspect you had a hearing loss?
I caught my hearing loss very early. From the time only one pitch (4K) was outside of the normal range of hearing I knew. My dad had a hearing loss and pushed me to check my hearing every year because of the problems he lives with by waiting too long to aid his hearing loss.
3. How long do you wear your hearing aids each day?
Full-Time
4. Do you feel like you get benefit from your hearing aids?
Yes
5. What complaints do you have about your hearing aids?
They seem to make the sounds I want to hear the least stand out the most. I wish that the noise filters on hearing aids worked better. I sell hearing aids and I'm wearing hearing aids with the most advanced noise filters. They work better than my previous hearing aids, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.
6. Do you feel like your hearing aids have lived up to what your audiologist or hearing aid dealer told you they would do?
Great Question. The business owners often market hearing aids like they're absolutely perfect. Then inside of the clinic the Audiologist's and Hearing Aid Dealers have to, or should, provide very realistic expectations on what you should expect from hearing aids based on your individual hearing results. The exact same hearing aids on two clients with the exact same hearing level, but drastically different speech discrimination scores will have drastically different experiences. Speech Discrimination is your ability to discern the difference between similar sounding words. 'time', 'dime', 'mine'. Nothing is more important than your ability to discern similar words and this effected by how long you wait to begin wearing hearing aids. So here's the thing. I might wear the newest SmartAid Digital Premium open-fit hearing aid and love it. It might work great in noise for me because my speech discrimination is above 90%. You might buy the same hearing aids and feel that the marketing behind the product was not accurate as you can't seem to hear any better in noise with your new hearing aids over your previous hearing aids. This may be caused Hearing Professional should talk about what you should expect from your hearing aids, instead of what the marketers say about the hearing aids assuming that the person wearing them has perfect discrimination scores.
7. Did you get your hearing aids from an audiologist or a hearing aid dealer?
Audiologist

Hearing Loss Solutions For Improved Speech Clarity | Clearly Hearing

 

[chal5oye]

What are the interview questions?