Researchers from the Human Factors Research Group are looking for participants in a study about the daily experiences of people who are hard of hearing.

They are looking for people aged from 7 to 60 years old with mild to severe hearing loss (but not be completely deaf) who must be users of BTE, ITE, ITC and CIC hearing aids (i.e. no hearing aids which require surgery). If you or a friend/ family member is eligible and interested in participating, please contact Dr Hallewell using the details below. All participants should be interested in using technologies to improve their hearing.

The study will be comprised of two parts: a questionnaire for the hearing aid user to be completed at home and an interview with both the hearing aid user and a friend/ family member which will last approximately 90 minutes (30-60 minutes for children, with a break). The hearing aid user will need to bring a friend, family member (including children) or spouse (who ideally does not have hearing loss) with them to the interview – this should be someone they communicate with frequently. The reason we ask the hearing aid user to bring someone is because we would like to gain a greater insight into how their hearing aid(s) help them to communicate with other people in different situations. At the end of the study the hearing aid user will be compensated for their time with a £25 High Street shopping voucher (or the same value Amazon voucher for children), and the friend/family member will be compensated for their time with a £20 High Street shopping voucher (or Amazon voucher for children).

This study is part of the 3D-Tune-In project. The project aims to help people use neglected hearing aid functionalities that could greatly improve their quality of life and their interactions with other people and their surrounding environment. We will be developing digital technology applications to help people learn about different hearing aid functionalities as well as enable them to practise changing between functionalities in different simulated situations to meet changing demands. We also aim to help people without hearing difficulties to understand how hearing loss can affect everyday activities and how hearing aids can help to improve people’s hearing in different situations.

If you would like more information about the 3D-Tune-In project, please visit their website.

For more information about the study or to sign up, please email M.Hallewell@nottingham.ac.uk or call 0115 951 4040 and ask for Maddy Hallewell.