I’ve just discovered the wonderful Hearing Guide. It’s an awesome resource. – Monica Bray (Cochlear)

What a great resource. – Jade Parr (Advanced Bionics)

I really enjoyed reading the guide!  It’s brilliant. So comprehensive, easy to read and relatable. I’m really impressed with the level of detail and can only imagine the hours you’ve spent researching new updates. The guide will positively impact so many people including professionals.  I can see it being so useful for instance, at our hospital when new medicos have a rotation in the Ear, Nose and Throat Department or when we have new Audiology students in our Department who are new to implant devices. Again – well done!  It’s fantastic there’s people like you who are so pro-active and care enough to put in the hundreds of hours required to develop such a useful and thorough guide. – Roberta Marino (Fiona Stanley Hospital) with permission

Overall Reactions to First Edition:

It’s going to be a great resource for consumers and all sorts of people. Well done for tackling it!  – Margaret Anderson

Congratulations on this most thorough publication. You have done a splendid job. It would be a very valuable resource, not only for hearing impaired people, but professional audiologists in particular. – Marie-Louise Hekel

I think you’ve done a brilliant job. You really have a great understanding of how the different devices can be applied. If you don’t mind, when the product is finished, I’d like to pass it on to training ENT’s at the major teaching hospitals here in Perth and also the upcoming Audiology students. – Roberta Marino

Well done on all your hard work. – Sarah McCullough (Advanced Bionics)

It looks great and you’ve done a top job. – Linda Ballam-Davies (Cochlear)

Why CICADA wrote the hearing guide

About one-third of Australian adults have some degree of hearing loss. However, only a minority of those who should have hearing aids do, and use them. Despite being of benefit, however, the majority of people do not. And for cochlear implants, even in advanced economies, less than 10% of people who could benefit have done so.

Many people do not recognise their problem or are in denial. And then there are those who fear a stigma associated with a visible hearing solution. Further barriers to adopting a hearing solution include myths such as hearing aids don’t work, cochlear implants are only for children, and hearing devices make you look older or handicapped.

Therefore, this guide starts by summarising the numerous perceptions and misconceptions about hearing loss and the barriers to the wider use of hearing solutions. The subsequent sections cover understanding hearing loss and potential solutions with descriptions of the available devices and ongoing technology advances.

The focus of this second edition is on implantable devices for several reasons:

1. Hearing aids have been around for a long time. There is adequate information available (both overview and detailed comparisons)
2. Even the longest-established implantable devices – cochlear implants – are not widely known. This includes hearing professionals who do not specialise in implants. There was also a lack of independent, comparative, accessible information
3. Technological and surgical advances have made some implantable devices much more capable, and more widely applicable to different types and degrees of hearing loss
4. A new myth, that implants can restore hearing and do so quickly, needs to be dispelled.

Who is this hearing guide for?

We have written this hearing guide to help medical, audiological and other professionals in the hearing health field. It is also for those who are hearing-impaired, their families and friends who are interested and motivated to better understand the overall situation and their own options.

We hope this Guide will help address the lack of awareness of the wide range of solutions available and the types and degrees of hearing loss that they apply to.