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Setting hearing aids for older adults

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I was doing some internet searching for information related to compression speeds for those struggling to understand words and came across this research paper which made some interesting points. So I am sharing this here and hopefully this will be interesting/beneficial to others.

(PDF) Setting Hearing Aids for Older Adults (SHAOA): What can we learn from the literature and what do audiologists currently do? (researchgate.net)22

Here are a couple of points from the document that I found interesting.

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Speech in noise is an issue for all of us, so the settings above are what they say we should aim for .

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And some settings for speech in quiet.

It is interesting that in all the years I have had HAs, not a single Audi/HAD has mentioned compression speeds as a factor than can help.

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I use Phonak, and the above suggests Phonak is the least appropriate for someone looking to use slow compression.

I hope you find this useful.

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Edited

The Phonak hearing aids could be set to Adapive Phonak Digital Contrast 2.0 (ADPC 2.0) fitting formula which provide slower adaptive compression.

Adaptive Phonak Digital Contrast
Has anyone tried this fitting formula yet? How do you find it? I thought it was only available for the Naida B but I can see it on my Phonak Brio P-UPs so might try it.

For your clients with poor auditory resolution abilities, you can select Adaptive Phonak Digital 2.0 Contrast in Naída Paradise/Naida Lumity. It slows the compression to preserve the contrast between loud and soft sounds. Because of the new adaptive compression speed in Paradise, 2.0 Contrast it results in even more contrast, than the original APD Contrast.

Ten things you need to know about Naída™ Paradise | Audiology Blog9

Naída Paradise has all the technology you rely on from the previous generations of Naída, with an amazing array of new connectivity options. Here are ten things you need to know.

You may want to check out the bible on compression “Starkey compression handbook” ( just google to download it ) that’s been around for a very long time, it’s pretty helpful for those that are really interested in projects as well.

@DaveUK Thank you so much for this! I’m having the most difficult time discriminating speech, particularly in noisy backgrounds, muted environments and multiple simultaneous conversations. My hearing aid is also Phonak. I went to a hearing aid specialist earlier this year and he took all the programs away except comfort (or speech, I can’t remember) in noise. However, it is totally ineffective, no different that the default setting. I thought it was the onset of some auditory processing deficit or further deterioration of the auditory nerve. I’m currently looking for another audiologist because I just moved, so I’ll be sure to ask them about compression speed. What exactly is compression speed?

In reply to @Deaflogs

The owner of the forum posted a mask program.
I’ve had it implemented on my Paradise P90s

A thought…a close copy….suggest you use myPhonak. Adjust a program. Push the clarity button. That boosts mid and high-frequency. Increase the volume too. Then save that program

I have the same complaints as you. And my dispensing audiologist politely asked me to find someone who could help me more than him. I did!

In reply to @tenkan

That is a very interesting and informative document. I really like the “Patient Adjustment Guide”. Do you know if Phonak has published this kind of help document? I realize that you can use the Automatic Fine Tuning screen in Target as sort of a interactive help guide, but the Starkey guide seems to provide an explanation of fitting issues in one place.

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