Becoming a Looping Champion

Sometimes hearing instruments are not enough for people with hearing challenges. When watching television, for example, hearing aid users may report they still have difficulty listening. Solutions have been around for years but setup has been hard for some users, compatibility with the spectrum of TVs has been hit-and-miss, and most have required an additional device for streaming to hearing aids. That’s why Unitron developed its TV Connector, which offers easy setup, wireless connectivity and high-quality binaural sound using Moxi All and Moxi All R hearing instruments.

Public places may be difficult listening environments for people despite their hearing aids, too. Extrinsic variables of distance, noise and reverberation conspire with intrinsic limitations of the auditory system to make listening in places of worship, theaters, auditoriums, court rooms, meeting rooms, museums and other public places particularly challenging. Fortunately technology already exists to help. It’s called a ‘hearing loop’ and it leverages the telecoil inside a hearing aid. Unitron makes telecoils standard or optional in its hearing instruments whenever size permits. This includes Stride BTEs, Max Super Power BTEs, Moxi Dura/Fit/Fit R RICs and Insera ITEs larger than IIC.

Juliette Sterkens, AuD is National Hearing Loop Advocate for the Hearing Loss Association of America. She has authored numerous articles and speaks globally on the subject of hearing loops. In this article, she discusses the importance of loops including what they can do for your patients and practice.

Help your clients hear--everywhere--through the use of hearing loops

“I used to clap when others clapped. I used to laugh when others laughed though I usually didn't hear what it was about. Now I hear every word in my church. I absolutely love the hearing loop.”

Back in 2008, I heard David Myers speak on his hearing loop experience at Iona Abbey in Scotland at a meeting for members of the Hearing Loss Association of Wisconsin. He talked about how successful he had been in bringing hearing loop technology to Western Michigan. That afternoon I decided I too wanted to make the Fox Valley Communities accessible for persons with hearing loss just like David Myers had done in his state.

“In the loop I could hear the minister better than my spouse.”

My husband Max offered to retire early from an engineering career and help introduce hearing loops to the community as there were no trained hearing loop installers in the state of Wisconsin. I called churches, city council members, museums and seniors center directors, and even spoke with an architect from the Oshkosh Convention Center that was being remodeled at that time. I educated my patients on the telecoil, what it was and why it was important. The best thing we did was install a large flat screen TV and hearing loop in our office waiting room. Demonstrations were invaluable. How do you explain to a person that they are missing something when they don't know what they are missing? I even had a church council meeting in my waiting room so those with hearing aids could experience a loop.

During the first few weeks of looping advocacy the local Community Foundation funded the technology for the Oshkosh Convention Center, a church under construction agreed to put the loop wire in so that an installation would be easier later on, the Seniors Center wanted a loop for a large meeting room and a longtime patient offered to fund an installation in her church in memory of her husband. (We both shed a few tears when she brought up the subject.) Local service organizations helped fund loops after a “Let’s Get Our Community in the Loop” presentation.

Each hearing loop installation involves not only the actual placement of the loop but community outreach. In houses of worship, for example, your practice name may be listed in the church bulletin insert, the news release and you might get to address the whole parish community from the pulpit during the hearing loop dedication weekend. Your speaking services will be in demand as you address library groups, service organizations or aging care professionals about hearing loss and ways to make the community more hearing friendly.

Hearing loops changed how I practiced. Audiologists like Bill Diles in Santa Rosa CA, Mary Caccavo and Susan Lopez in Lafayette IN, and Marcy Stowell in Greenville, SC will tell you that adding hearing loops to your community will change your life as an audiologist. That looping opened doors in the community that never would have opened. Looping services tells your community you are a cut above other practices. That you care about your patients’ ability to hear. Everywhere. The goodwill and gratitude that looping will bring your practice? Priceless. The best way to stand out from your competition is to become a looping champion in your community.

What is a hearing loop?

Think of it as Wi-Fi for hearing aids! Sound, picked up by a microphone in a place of worship, on a stage in a theater, TV room or the public address system of an airport gate (can anyone decipher what is said over some of these speakers?) is delivered wirelessly through the telecoil in the hearing aid without any background noise. The power of the hearing loop is that it allows the user to hear the wanted sound directly and wirelessly in the ear without any background noise or the degradation effects on the signal due to distance and reverberation.

In order for hearing loops to be effective, they have to be installed to meet the IEC 60118-4 standard. This standard specifies the magnetic signal strength (in mA/m), the frequency response (from 100-5000 Hz) and the allowable electromagnetic interference. When hearing loops are installed to this standard, you can be certain that hearing aid and cochlear implant users will receive a clear signal that even those with severe-to-profound hearing loss and reduced word recognition scores will benefit from.

While self-installation for a TV room can be handled in an hour or two by a handy do-it-your-selfer, public installations are best left to professionally trained installers. Hearing loop wire or copper foil has to be installed at floor or ceiling level (but not in between), or against the ceiling of the basement underneath the seated area provided there is not too much metal in the construction. Hearing loop wire has been installed in the grout of a tile floor, underneath the carpeting or with the help of strong adhesive tape on top of smooth floors.

Hearing loop systems are venue-specific and almost always require a site visit prior to provide an accurate cost of installation estimate. Thorough site visits can take two hours to complete and if more complicated, may require an entire morning or afternoon to complete.

What determines the cost of the hearing loop largely depends on size of the facility, the presence of metal in the floor (which may necessitate a more expensive-phased array loop versus a simpler and less expensive perimeter, figure 8 or snowman loop), local labor expenses and the amount of effort and/or carpet work required to hide the wire. As always, it is good to obtain more than one quote and insist that the installer perform a site visit to measure background noise levels and metal effects.

It is highly recommended that you vet potential hearing loop installers carefully. Verify that the installer has been trained and has the engineering expertise to meet the IEC Standard. Ask how many hearing loops they have installed, how they will verify that the hearing loop meets the standard, ask for a minimum of 3 references and take the time to go listen for yourself with a hearing aid in a loop! This will prevent dissatisfaction with uneven, poor quality installations and will delight users with clear, strong input wherever they sit in a looped venue.

Ask if the installer will provide a news release, written instructions how to use the loop, clear signage and several loop receivers (for people without hearing aids). Good loop installers will involve you, the hearing healthcare professional, when the time comes to train and educate the staff and/or the patrons in the periodic testing of the hearing loop, or say a few words during the hearing loop dedication when it involves a loop in a church.

Where to find a good hearing loop installer? Currently only two companies in the US offer in-depth hearing loop training seminars. They are Contacta out of Holland MI and the Utah based Listen Technologies.

For clients who aren’t candidates for hearing aids, be sure to recommend LoopBuds. These telecoil earphones, used in conjunction with a free app, allow anyone with an iPhone to hear in a looped venue. LoopBuds also allow you to make recordings in and out of the loop for dramatic audio demonstrations.

To view a video on looping please click here, provided with permission by my friend Tom Kauffman at OTOjOY. By becoming a looping champion, you will do so much for your patients and in turn create wonderful exposure for your practice within your community. I strongly believe this will change the way you practice and interact with your patients. Happy looping!

This blog post was contributed by Juliette Sterkens, AuD who retired after 26 years in her Oshkosh, WI private audiology practice. She is currently on her encore career as the Hearing Loss Association of America National Hearing Loop Advocate. She has received numerous awards for her hearing loop advocacy work including the Wisconsin Audiologist of the Year, Arizona School of Health Sciences 2013 Humanitarian of the Year, the American Academy of Audiology Presidential Award and the UW?Oshkosh Distinguished Alumni Award. Her work has led to over 500 hearing loop installations in Wisconsin and many more around the US.