With creativity and presence of mind, many people manage to compensate for initial difficulties with hearing or make them less noticeable. Affected individuals develop a wide range of strategies for this, often unconsciously. For example, the use of hearing aids is often accompanied by supportive, unconscious behaviors.
What is the aim of this study?
We are investigating how people's hearing changes over time, and how people with hearing difficulties manage their daily lives. In particular, we are interested in when which strategies for coping with hearing difficulties provide the best advantage for achieving a good listening experience. The findings will be used in the future to help people manage hearing difficulties and to alert people to changes in their hearing at an early stage.
Who can participate in the study?
The study is aimed at people aged 40 and over with beginning or advanced hearing difficulties. The use of hearing aids is possible, but not a prerequisite for participation in the study.
How does the study work?
As a participant in the study, you will be interviewed repeatedly over a period of six months. We use a special study app (MyHearingExperience) for the surveys. The interviews take place approximately every ten days and take between one and ten minutes. Very different topics are covered, such as your personal hearing ability, strategies for dealing with hearing difficulties, health and quality of life.
Your benefits:
- "Fun Facts on Hearing" Via the app, you get to read qualified information about hearing at regular intervals.
- "Online hearing screening": Furthermore, we have integrated access to an online hearing screening into the app twice during the study period, which gives you additional feedback on your hearing ability. For an accurate result, you should then connect headphones to your phone for this.
- "Voucher": In addition, Amazon vouchers will be raffled among all participants as a thank you for supporting our study.
Your participation in the entire study as well as in the individual surveys is voluntary and non-participation as well as termination of participation (revocation of consent) is possible at any time without giving reasons and without disadvantages. By participating in the study, you will not incur any risks or other burdens.
Join us, we would like to learn from you how you experience your hearing! Click here for registration.
Center for Applied Research on Supply Chain Services at Fraunhofer IIS
