Osher Günsberg, host of The Bachelor Australia franchise has been fitted with the latest upgraded miniRITE hearing aid technology by Danielle Tres, Head of Audiology, Oticon Australia.

"Osher has a mild to severe neurosensory hearing loss, likely aggravated by all his years of noise exposure. He had previously been fitted with miniRITE style hearing aids, therefore I decided to fit him with the latest miniRITE instruments using the latest technology platform developed in Denmark. Osher spends a lot of time on TV sets, at large events or with his family, he is always surrounded by a lot of people and this new technology definitely suits his lifestyle." – Danielle Tres.

Google is making life a bit easier for people who suffer from hearing loss.
On Thursday, the company announced that it's working with GN Hearing to bring hearing aid streaming support to future versions of Android. This means people will be able to connect, pair, and monitor their hearing aids from their Android device.

This follows Apple's Made for iPhone hearing aid program, which allows people to connect and control their hearing aids from iOS devices. You can read more in CNET's feature on the Apple program here.
Although Apple was first, Google's move has potentially bigger impact since 85 percent of the world's smartphones run Android (compared to 14.7 percent for iOS).
A World Health Organization statistic from March says that around 466 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss, meaning a lot of people could potentially benefit from Android's support.

Apple and Android aren't alone in bringing cutting-edge tech to hearing aids. Manufacturers like Bose, Oticon and Harman are also working to make hearing aids smarter with app support, built-in sensors and communication between connected smart devices.
Android's hearing aid support is designed to have a low impact on battery life while keeping audio quality high. The nitty-gritty details about the hearing aid support can be read on Android's spec page here.

(Source: cnet.com)
(Author: Gordon Gottsegen)

The artist and grandmother who lives in Cheeditha — an indigenous community just outside of Roebourne in the Western Australian Pilbara region — had chronic ear infections that were left largely untreated over decades.
"I've been going to the clinic for a long time but they just said there's lots of holes [in the eardrum] and all of that," she said.
Ms Warrie attended remote health clinics over the years without any improvement and thought she would be stuck with her poor hearing.
That was until a mobile ear health clinic, inside a minibus, rolled into town.

Hearing difficulties are one of the biggest health problems in the Pilbara.

Aboriginal children have the highest rates of otitis media — middle ear infection — in the world, according to the World Health Organisation.Since the Chevron Ear Health program started in 2011, hundreds of children have been tested — and treated.

Telecom Speech and Hearing's Pilbara ear health coordinator, Amelia Scheel, said hearing problems at a young age could have adverse effects on a child's speech and language development and their overall learning in the classroom.

"Our attendance rates at clinics have been great — a great increase from when we first commenced with the program to now," Ms Scheel said.

"It's steady at probably about an 85 per cent attendance to clinics.

"And almost 100 per cent for our ENT (ear nose and throat specialist clinics), which is absolutely amazing."
Roebourne school principal, David Paine, said the program had a positive impact on school attendance, behaviour and learning.

"A lot of the issues in learning, a lot of the issues with behaviour is just down to they can't hear the instruction properly," he said.

"So if we can alleviate that concern, we can alleviate and address other concerns too.

"We have a lot of students who do not get those regular checks and they have a lot of middle-ear issues, that if not picked up at the early stages easily become into a permanent damage that impacts their entire life.
He said the hearing improvements had changed lives.He highlighted one student who was tested and fitted with a hearing device, inserted into a baseball cap.

"When she first came back in, just seeing her smile, it was really probably her first time when she could really focus in on someone who was speaking and actually hear them," he said.

"Not just what they're saying but their tone, their expression, the difference between one person speaking and another, and seeing that light all across their face was truly special and truly amazing."

Mr Paine was so impressed with the changes in his student's hearing, it prompted him to face up to the reality of his own hearing issues.

The mobile ear health clinic has started taking adult clients for the first time.

"I didn't think I had a hearing issue, it was more when I would go to parties or go to clubs I could never hear any conversations, it was just something always that played at the back of my mind," he said.

"And because every term I was seeing the ear bus staff, I thought maybe I should ask them.

"And this year I built up my courage and said 'look I'm a bit worried about my ears could you please check my hearing'."

After discovering he did have a hearing problem, Mr Paine is now on the path to receiving treatment.

(Source: abc.net.au/news)
(Author: Karen Michelmore)