Unitron announced the launch of Coach, a feature in the Remote Plus app that allows users to “take control of their hearing health by facilitating a better understanding of their hearing devices.” Coach sends users notifications for when to change or charge batteries, clean their devices, usage details, what to expect and how to get the most from their hearing instruments.
“Our goal with Coach is to empower clients with the confidence they need to integrate their hearing instruments into their lives,” said Shaun Coghlan, senior product manager at Unitron. “Clients can often feel overwhelmed when fitted with a hearing device for the first time. Traditionally, the hearing care professional provides support and counseling on routine care and maintenance. Mobilizing this knowledge in a way that’s easy for the client to access and apply helps un-complicate what feels complicated.”
Clinical research shows that “approximately 90% of hearing instrument owners have trouble with basic hearing instrument management tasks,” according to Unitron. This can result in the abandonment of hearing instruments, leaving people to continue to struggle with hearing loss. Coach uses video, graphics, and text to simplify and improve the experience for clients.
Coach, part of Insights, is the latest of Unitron’s data-based technology that is helping to “transform the hearing care experience.” Insights is a cloud-based system that captures and visualizes information about a clients’ unique acoustic lifestyle—including how well, or not so well, the instruments are performing. For the hearing healthcare provider, this information is crucial to ensuring the hearing device is personalized to a clients’ lifestyle.
“When the patient comes back we usually go into the software and I’m proud of the fact that I can say, ‘Hey, let’s look at what living situations you have,’” said Dawn Heiman, Advanced Audiology Consultants. “They usually forget that I told them that we’re going to be obtaining some data while they’re wearing the hearing aids and the shocked, excited and intrigued look on their face all at once is like, ‘Wait a minute. What?’ They actually say that.”
Exclusive to Insights is Log It All, a solution that is said to capture real-life data about the time spent in seven different listening environments. Log It All provides a detailed analysis of a clients’ unique acoustic lifestyle, breaking down time spent engaged in quiet or loud conversations, noisy environments, or listening to music. This information “allows hearing care professionals to make evidence-backed medical recommendations about the best hearing care solution for them.“
Clients experiencing hearing health-related challenges are often resistant to the idea of having to wear a hearing device because they consider them to be uncomfortable, ineffective, or on a more emotional level, an acknowledgement of aging.
With Unitron’s personalized, state-of-the-art technology, “clients are more engaged in their own hearing health care.” This increased involvement helps “reduce client fear and uncertainty, speeds up acceptance, and empowers clients to make informed decisions about what technology will suit their needs.”
For more information about Unitron, please visit: www.unitron.com.
Source: Unitron
