DENTON (UNT), Texas – Faculty in the University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology received a $300,000 grant from the Hearing Industry Research Consortium to determine how emotions, psychological well-being, social relationships, stress and other factors impact whether adults continue to use hearing aids once they’re purchased.

“Every hearing aid patient is unique, and our ultimate goal is to better understand what individual factors increase hearing aid acceptance in new hearing aid users,” said assistant professor of audiology Sharon Miller. “The study data will provide a roadmap for how we can customize the hearing aid fitting process to match specific patient needs.” 

The study will include 40 participants between the ages of 50 to 85 who purchase hearing aids from the UNT Speech and Hearing Center, 907 W. Sycamore St. in Denton.

“Each of the three study sessions can be completed in one or two days. All testing, including breaks, will take approximately six hours per session,” professor of audiology Erin Schafer said.

If a patient qualifies for the study, they will be required to visit the center several times for a set of tests and will receive three $300 gift cards. Participants also receive a remote microphone to help them with listening in noisy situations. Testing for the study consists of hearing assessments, surveys and non-invasive brain and eye response tests.

Schafer and Miller will be joined by assistant professor of speech-language pathology Boji Lam. They hope to have initial data this fall.

For more information, or to learn more about becoming a study participant, email Dr. Schafer at erin.schafer@unt.edu, or call 940-565-2262.