Passing the microphone: How is amplifying the public-patient voice improving interventions and outcomes in adult hearing health research?
October 14, 2025
A blog by Natalie Lerigo-Smith and Nova Matthew, two PhD students with the Adult Hearing Health team. The Adult Hearing Health team Based at the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre within Hearing Sciences at the University of Nottingham, our research focuses on patient and public priorities across four interconnected themes: Hearing in dementia Auditory training …
Colours and more
June 7, 2025
As mentioned in my last blog, I have acquired a nice pair of blue hearing aids together with purple ear moulds: I wandered out of the audiologist’s feeling more than a little self-conscious and curious as to how the world would respond. In short, as it turned out, not a lot. Few people have commented …
In pursuit of colour
May 5, 2025
Hearing aid manufacturers have invested much time and resource to make hearing aids (HAs) smaller and less conspicuous. This has probably enabled a lot of people to pluck up courage and start wearing HAs. The technology that packs so much sophisticated function into a device the size of a kidney bean is awe-inspiring. For adult …
Sound-sensitivity in children
February 26, 2024
Is your child sensitive to sound? Please help us test a new clinical questionnaire. What is sound-sensitivity? Sound-sensitivity (also known as hyperacusis) is common in children. It is where they experience distress or pain when hearing some everyday sounds. For example, they may struggle with the normal sounds present at home (e.g. hoover) and outside …
Dementia and hearing aids, again: the ACHIEVE trial
July 18, 2023
The results of the ACHIEVE trial of hearing interventions aimed at helping cognition in older people are very welcome. This is a really important piece of research and will have implications for patients, clinicians and researchers. As a hearing aid user myself, I am personally very interested in this topic. The background is that hearing …
The humble hearing aid versus Giant Dementia
April 21, 2023
The Lancet Commission reports published in 2017 and 2021 have highlighted hearing loss as a major risk factor for dementia, suggesting that hearing loss from midlife onwards is responsible for about 8% of the potentially modifiable risk of dementia. Therefore, potentially, eliminating the problem could prevent 8% of future cases of dementia. This would be …
Roger and out? Further reflections on wireless microphones
April 4, 2023
Roger happens to be the name of a series of wireless microphones designed to augment the effects of hearing aids. As I mentioned in an earlier blog (Hearing aids and beyond… – Hearing Matters (nottingham.ac.uk), these devices come in different shapes and sizes according to the intended purpose. This blog is to present a personal …
Hearing aids and beyond…
February 3, 2023
I wrote a few months ago about my initial acceptance of having hearing loss and the experience of acquiring hearing aids (Tom Dening: Hearing aids and cognitive impairment – Challenging Stigma and Promoting Personhood (lancs.ac.uk)). Since then, things have moved on somewhat, causing me to reflect on what is available to help people optimise their …
Hearing Loss and Cognitive Impairment
September 21, 2022
Hearing loss and cognitive impairment are both extremely common, especially in older adults. Untreated hearing loss has been identified as the leading modifiable risk factor for the development of dementia in mid-life. Currently, one in five adults in the UK live with hearing loss. It is estimated that 12 million people in the UK have …
Reverend Professor David M Baguley, 1961-2022
June 22, 2022
Leader, teacher, mentor, scientist, clinician, patient advocate and man of faith: we will not see his like again. The sudden and tragic death of David (Dave) Baguley has left a gap within the national and international audiology and hearing science community. A Mancunian and lifelong supporter of Manchester City football club, he was awarded a …
