Donate to Those in Need and Upgrade Your Hearing Aids during Better Hearing and Speech Month

In honor of May’s Better Hearing and Speech Month, the Pennsylvania Ear Institute (PEI) of Salus University is offering the local community a chance to give back and upgrade their current hearing aids. From May 22-31, 2017, anyone who brings in their current hearing aids to PEI for donation will receive $250 off the purchase of each new hearing aid (up to a $500 discount). Those interested, please call 215.789.4736 to schedule an appointment.

PEI director and pediatric audiologist, Dr. Lindsay Bondurant, hopes the event will help connect those in need with the assistive listening technology they require and give current hearing aid wearers the ability to explore new, upgraded devices.

“Our primary goal is to raise awareness about the importance of hearing and the effects of hearing loss, in hopes that people who are struggling to hear clearly, or know someone who is having difficulty hearing, seek a consultation with a licensed audiologist,” Dr. Bondurant said. “Secondly, we’d like to reach out to people whose hearing aids may not be suiting their current needs. We have seen amazing advances in hearing aid technology over the past two years, including connectivity to cell phones, rechargeable batteries and water resistance. We want people with hearing loss to have the opportunity to talk to our Doctors of Audiology about how a new or modified hearing loss treatment plan might help them reconnect to the people and things that matter to them.”

All donated hearing aids must be functioning. PEI’s audiologists will clean all traded-in devices and prepare them to be donated to someone in need through Lions Clubs International, the world’s largest service organization dedicated to providing numerous types of service for health, youth, elderly, the environment and disaster relief both home and abroad.

Each May the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association celebrates Better Hearing and Speech Month to raise awareness about communication disorders and the role audiologists and speech-language pathologists play in providing life-changing services.

Healthy hearing is an important aspect of healthcare as it affects more than just people’s ability to hear the world around them. According to Dr. Bondurant, hearing loss has been linked to a number of other health-related issues, such as dementia, depression, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, obesity and sleep apnea. Untreated hearing loss can also take a toll on people’s personal lives

“Hearing loss can be very subtle, and most people don’t realize the enormous impact it can have on their quality of life, including their relationships, employment, and ability to participate in activities that matter to them such as joining friends and families for meals, attending religious services or enjoying music,” she said. “Research shows a strong correlation between hearing aid use and quality of life. The longer a person lives with untreated hearing loss, the more it can negatively impact their quality of life. The sooner people talk to an audiologist about their hearing health, the sooner they can reconnect with the people around them.”