Why donors must do more than doling out hearing aids

A recent press report indicated that a US-based organisation in conjunction with a local university, hospital and some other local philanthropists had organised the treatment of some 1,500 children with hearing problems and given them hearing aids.

The children came to Nairobi from all over the country for the screening and treatment.

By the end of the exercise, the report went on, at least 8,000 hearing aids will have been given out.

The people behind this effort did all the right things.

Professionals screened and diagnosed the type and degree of deafness before giving out the hearing aids.

Hopefully, the beneficiaries also got proper training on how to use and take care of the gadgets to get maximum benefits from them.

Philanthropic efforts

Unfortunately experience in this country shows that after the initial excitement generated by such philanthropic efforts, there is often great disappointment and disillusionment by the beneficiaries almost as soon as they go back home.

Hearing aids are delicate gadgets that need careful handling and care and donors, unfortunately, usually do not provide the needed after-service.

Most of those who benefited from the recent exercise come from the rural areas where the only repairman available at the local market deals exclusively with shoes.

Most users are also usually too poor to afford to take care of the gadgets.

It is most likely that the majority of the recent proud owners will abandon them in a few weeks for as small a problem as an expired battery.

The gadgets improve the hearing and speech comprehension of people who have hearing problems that may have resulted from damage to the sensory cells in the inner ear.

Damage usually occurs from disease, ageing, injury from noise or from medication that went wrong.

But they do not cure deafness, a misconception that is quite prevalent.

A hearing aid is basically an amplifier and the greater the damage the more severe the hearing loss and consequently the greater the hearing aid amplification needed.

There are, however, practical limits to the amount of amplification a hearing aid can provide.

If the inner ear is too damaged even large vibrations will not be converted into neural signs and a hearing aid will be of no practical use.

All hearing aids don’t work the same way and their functioning depends on the electronics fitted.

There are two types of electronics— analogue and digital.

Analogue aids convert the sound waves into electrical signals and are custom build to fit the needs of each user.

Analog technology is more basic and therefore more appropriate and cheaper for local use but these days an audiologist can programme the aid using a computer.

Digital aids can be specifically programmed to amplify some sounds more than the others and to focus on sounds coming from a certain direction and shut out all other static.

There are three basic styles of hearing aids which differ by size, their placement on or outside the ear and the degree to which they amplify the sound.

Behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids have a hard plastic case worn behind the ear and connected to a plastic ear mould worn inside the ear.

The electronic parts are held in the case behind the ear.

New type small open-fit BTE are fitted with a narrow tube inserted into the ear canal which enables the canal to remain open.

In-the-ear (ITE) hearing aids fit completely inside the ear and are used for mild to severe hearing loss.

Some ITE are fitted with a telecoil, a small magnetic coil that allows users to hear conversations over the telephone.

It also helps people hear in public facilities installed with special sound systems called induction loops.

The technology is not here yet a but in developed countries loop systems are installed in churches, schools, airports and auditoriums and hearing aids users immediately switch on their telecoil when they enter the facilities.

ITE aids should not be fitted to children because the casings will have to be replaced as often as the ear grows.

Canal hearing aids fit into the ear canal and are available in two styles.

In-the-canal (ITC) hearing aid is made to fit the shape and size of the ear canal while a completely-in-canal (CIC) is partially hidden in the ear canal. Both types of canal hearing aids are used for mild to moderately severe hearing loss.

The selection of a hearing aid should be guided by the severity of one’s hearing loss and the ambience and environment in which it will be used.

Price, too, is a key determinant on the quality and the effectiveness of a hearing aid.

A functional basic hearing aid will cost at least Sh8,000 but a state-of-the-art gadget can be upwards of hundreds of thousands of shillings, not counting the cost of maintenance.

Remember. Hearing aids are not a cure for deafness and only work where one has residual hearing.

Profoundly deaf people will not benefit from a hearing aid however technologically advanced it is.