2019 NHCA Annual Conference

A sound booth has long been the standard equipment needed to conduct audiological examinations, requiring substantial square footage and a trained on-site audiologist. But within the last 10 years, several companies have worked towards developing novel strategies to bring hearing assessment out of the booth, making services more accessible, while increasing efficiencies. Additional requirements within specialty populations and markets, including foreign and domestic militaries as well as U.S. Veterans, add specialized capabilities to the list of acceptable solutions. With developers rushing to meet these needs, it has become increasingly difficult to keep up with the ever-evolving technological landscape. Moreover, recognizing the growing investment in this field, it is essential to develop frameworks that can be used by decision makers to assess the potential value of innovations in the field, from an early stage of their development. This will help accelerate their uptake and adoption into hearing services. This workshop will be comprised of four parts: 1) an overview of military, Veteran and civilian requirements driving development; 2) the current summary of technologies available as matrixed to meet those requirements; 3) presentations from participating boothless audiometry developer representatives; and 4) hands-on demonstrations to allow participants the opportunity to become familiar with each device. 

Hearing is a critical sense for individuals in many jobs, work places, and other occupationally-related processes. However, noise can interfere with detecting, identifying, and localizing sounds as well as communication. Instituting noise controls is the primary method to reduce exposure and allow critical sounds to be heard, though administrative controls and personal protective equipment are often necessary. Hearing protection devices (HPDs) with newer technologies have been introduced with capabilities to localize sounds and improve speech intelligibility beyond what older HPDs could provide.  Knowing what criteria to use to assess HPD capabilities and when to select newer HPDs is a new challenge for hearing conservation programs.  Participants in this course will learn how to identify hearing critical tasks (HCT) in the work place, how HPDs differ in their ability to suppress different types of noise, what assessment methods are being used to determine localization, and how to select hearing protection based upon all the information.  Participants will also learn how to instruct hearing protection users on selecting HPDs appropriate for the task.

In a world where YouTube videos, TED talks, and other engaging content is in the palm of our hand and a finger flick away, we as speakers need to raise our bar.   Imagine: you have just invented the world's best foam earplug, or perhaps you have succeeded in identifying the relationship between an otoprotectant and a particular type of noise exposure that may lead to better hearing loss prevention for millions.  And now  and now, unless you can effectively communicate that information to others, it comes to naught.  Indeed, a memo, an email, or written documentation is important, but public speaking brings with it a more powerful tool set.  When as listeners we peer into a speaker's eyes, hear their tone of voice, sense vulnerability, intelligence, or most importantly passion, communication is transformed to a new level.  Instead, we often sit numbed or confused, by cluttered bullet point slides, tedious indecipherable charts, or a lackluster presenter who is uncomfortable or ill prepared.  Come join award winning presenter, Elliott Berger, as he discusses the aws of public speaking engages the audience with kinetic learning and polling software, and shares his insights from over 40 years of observation and presentation of lectures in venues around the world.

A sound booth has long been the standard equipment needed to conduct audiological examinations, requiring substantial square footage and a trained on-site audiologist. But within the last 10 years, several companies have worked towards developing novel strategies to bring hearing assessment out of the booth, making services more accessible, while increasing efficiencies. Additional requirements within specialty populations and markets, including foreign and domestic militaries as well as U.S. Veterans, add specialized capabilities to the list of acceptable solutions. With developers rushing to meet these needs, it has become increasingly difficult to keep up with the ever-evolving technological landscape. Moreover, recognizing the growing investment in this field, it is essential to develop frameworks that can be used by decision makers to assess the potential value of innovations in the field, from an early stage of their development. This will help accelerate their uptake and adoption into hearing services. This workshop will be comprised of four parts: 1) an overview of military, Veteran and civilian requirements driving development; 2) the current summary of technologies available as matrixed to meet those requirements; 3) presentations from participating boothless audiometry developer representatives; and 4) hands-on demonstrations to allow participants the opportunity to become familiar with each device. 

Hearing is a critical sense for individuals in many jobs, work places, and other occupationally-related processes. However, noise can interfere with detecting, identifying, and localizing sounds as well as communication. Instituting noise controls is the primary method to reduce exposure and allow critical sounds to be heard, though administrative controls and personal protective equipment are often necessary. Hearing protection devices (HPDs) with newer technologies have been introduced with capabilities to localize sounds and improve speech intelligibility beyond what older HPDs could provide.  Knowing what criteria to use to assess HPD capabilities and when to select newer HPDs is a new challenge for hearing conservation programs.  Participants in this course will learn how to identify hearing critical tasks (HCT) in the work place, how HPDs differ in their ability to suppress different types of noise, what assessment methods are being used to determine localization, and how to select hearing protection based upon all the information.  Participants will also learn how to instruct hearing protection users on selecting HPDs appropriate for the task.

In a world where YouTube videos, TED talks, and other engaging content is in the palm of our hand and a finger flick away, we as speakers need to raise our bar.   Imagine: you have just invented the world's best foam earplug, or perhaps you have succeeded in identifying the relationship between an otoprotectant and a particular type of noise exposure that may lead to better hearing loss prevention for millions.  And now  and now, unless you can effectively communicate that information to others, it comes to naught.  Indeed, a memo, an email, or written documentation is important, but public speaking brings with it a more powerful tool set.  When as listeners we peer into a speaker's eyes, hear their tone of voice, sense vulnerability, intelligence, or most importantly passion, communication is transformed to a new level.  Instead, we often sit numbed or confused, by cluttered bullet point slides, tedious indecipherable charts, or a lackluster presenter who is uncomfortable or ill prepared.  Come join award winning presenter, Elliott Berger, as he discusses the aws of public speaking engages the audience with kinetic learning and polling software, and shares his insights from over 40 years of observation and presentation of lectures in venues around the world.