How many hearing aids now come with telecoils?
I'm periodically asked: what percent of today's new hearing aids come with telecoils (which receive magnetic input from hearing aid compatible phones and from hearing loops). A decade ago, 30 percent was the common estimate. Recently, two annual surveys of hearing professionals reported by the Hearing Journal (see Figure 4 here and.jpeg)
here) have both reported 62 percent. This increase is thanks partly to the surge in behind-the-ear (BTE) aids, most of which come with telecoils (though, sadly, not yet all the new mini-BTE aids). People with significant hearing loss and need for hearing assistance mostly wear BTE aids, which explains why 84 percent of Hearing Loss Association of America members in one survey reported having telecoils.
The March/April 2009 Hearing Review Products offered a technology guide to in-the-ear (ITE) hearing aids marketed by a dozen companies (Audifon, Audina, Bernafon, Oticon, Phonak, ReSound, Siemens, Sonic Innovations, Starkey, Unitron, Widex, and Rexton). Voila!, all 35 ITE models--100%--are now coming with telecoils. Ditto, it seems, for today's modern cochlear implants.
Happily, hearing loops can serve 100 percent of people, including those without telecoils or even without hearing aids. That's because all assistive listening systems come with portable receiver/headsets (though very few folks, at the point of their need, will take the initiative to get up, locate, wear, and return such).
(Note: Photo courtesy Tibbetts, now Global Coils.)
Jul 20, 2009 at 9:03 AM The only problem though is there are limited venues other than in Holland Michigan and the Fox Valley area in Wisconsin for using the telecoils...inductive looping permits the individual to hear in public places inportant to them such as places of worship, airports, drive through pharmacies, etc. While telecoils permit better reception on the phone it's in the public places that the hearing-impaired crave better hearing. How can we possibly get a national initiative going to loop America as we wait for the inevitable wireless revolution in hearing aids which I suspect is still many years off?
Jul 20, 2009 at 6:45 PM A national initiative probably requires persuading the hearing aid companies, hearing professionals, audio engineers, architects/facility planners, and hard of hearing consumers . . . through their schools, trade periodicals, and through the popular media. Gradually, we're making progress in this direction, as witnessed by the increased inclusion of telecoils, by the leadership of the Scandinavian countries and the UK, by the emergence of new American manufacturers and marketers of loop systems, and by the growing number of community initiatives, from NY to AZ, NM, and CA (for links to vendors and to community initiatives see my earlier post: http://betterhearing.org/blog/archives.cfm/category/technology-corner/page/2).