To hear or not to hear.

Hearing loss is common among older adults. Research has found a prevalence of 33% or higher of bilateral hearing loss in people 50 and older (Mitchell et al., 2011). Hearing loss has been associated with decline in both mental and physical health. Problems linked to hearing loss include lower cognitive functioning, functional status, and quality of lifefortunately, many older adults who purchase hearing aids do not achieve these potential benefits because they have difficulty adjusting to the devices. Nearly 50% of those who purchased hearing aids either never began wearing the devices or gave up on them after a short period (Hougaard & Ruf, 2011; Kochkin, 2000, 2010). Several factors may contribute to low hearing aid use after purchase. Some people report the devices did not perform in the manner they expected, either by amplifying sound too much or by not clarifying speech. Potential users have complained of headaches, annoying loud noises, and a seeming avalanche of sound (Winsor, 2011). Sensory overload is a common concern about hearing aids. Sensory overload is correlated with the length of time the older adult has lived with uncorrected hearing loss (Lockey, Jen-nings, & Shaw, 2010). People often delay acquiring hearing aids because the loss occurs gradually, and people tend to compensate by ignoring and denying the loss (Lane, 2012). The delay in beginning hearing aid use makes adjustment to the devices more challenging. Audiology research related to hearing loss has dealt with such concerns by improving hearing aid technology. This focus on technology development has been common in health research during the past few decades. Other research has addressed cosmetic appeal. These techniques have improved programming and have partially addressed stigma by improving device size and appearance. One programming improvement has been the addition of compression to hearing aid programs, which pulls more amplification into the speech area. While this technological improvement potentially could contribute to increased use of hearing aids, many audiologists and hearing aid dispensers do not know how to accurately add compression to hearing aid programming or do not support hearing aids with this type of programming (Edwards, 2007; Hau & Andersen, 2012). Unfortunately, people who do not adjust to hearing aids often do not return to audiology providers, leaving audiologists with little awareness of the magnitude of hearing aid adjustment problems. Audiology research has focused on rigorous experimental studies of technological advancements while failing to adequately address questions regarding …