Archives for May 8, 2019

Alyssa Tumblin, 2019 HearStrong Champion (Denver, CO)

On Thursday, May 2nd, in Denver, CO, Alyssa Tumblin, Co-Founder of the Ear Community Organization, was honored as a HearStrong Champion by President, Ed Keller, of the HearStrong Foundation. Ally was recognized for being an amazing advocate for helping educate other children who also have hearing loss and helping them realize that they are not alone and can be anything in life, even with hearing loss and wear hearing aids. Ally was asked a series of questions in addition to why she likes wearing her hearing aid and her response was “because it helps me hear better.” Ally was honored with a beautiful ceremony and dinner with over 100 Audiologists, hearing specialists, and hearing device manufacturer representatives including EarQ and Oticon, Inc. Vice President of Oticon, Inc., Rasmus Borsting, awarded Ally her gold medal as a HearStrong Champion and was delighted to meet the Tumblin Family and hear their story. Ed Keller also asked Ally’s mom, Melissa Tumblin, to speak about the Ear Community Organization and to share their story about Ally’s journey with unilateral hearing loss (aural atresia) and microtia.

Rasmus Borsting (VP of Oticon, Inc.) awarding Ally with her HearStrong gold medal.

Melissa Tumblin spoke about how unilateral hearing loss is an invisible disability and how “one good ear is not always good enough.” She explained how “everyone’s hearing loss experience is unique because of how our brains manage our hearing loss differently.” Melissa also shared some key take-a-ways of what she and Ally have both learned, together, on their road with hearing loss and how they utilize this learned information and share it as helpful knowledge with others. Melissa said one of the highlights of the night was meeting a team of audiologists from the Grand Cayman Islands who work for Cayman Hearing Center in George Town. Dr. Stine Lawton-Smith and Katie (Cayman Hearing Center’s patient care coordinator) shared how they knew all about the Ear Community Organization and how they help share our organization’s information with their patients who have Microtia and Atresia. There were hugs, tears of joy and laughter with these two as they genuinely appreciated the passion behind the Ear Community

The Tumblin girls with Dr. Stine Lawton-Smith and Katie (patient care manager) and her daughter of Cayman Hearing Center

Organization and meeting the Tumblin family. Ally and Melissa also met a couple of local audiologists from Colorado, including Dr. Meg Cates from Louisville, CO who was very excited to meet Ally in person and give her a big hug for all of her advocacy she has spread about Microtia and Atresia. Dr. Cates is looking forward to attending the Ear Community Microtia and Atresia picnic in Broomfield, CO this July.

Ally and Melissa Tumblin with Dr. Meg Cates of Hearing Solutions in Louisville, CO

This past February (26th), Ally along with her family and eight additional Ear Community families, advocated for hearing device insurance coverage during

Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. For Better Hearing and Speech Month this may, as part of a homework assignment for Ally, she wrote letters to Congressman Joe Neguse and Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, including Congressmen David McKinley and Mike Thompson, who sit on the Congressional Hearing Health Caucus, asking for their help with mandating hearing device coverage, nationwide. Especially, for bone conduction hearing devices, the kind of hearing device that Ally and thousands of children and adults who are just like her wear.

Here are some great memories from Ally’s special night!

Thank you,
The Ear Community Organization
www.EarCommunity.org

EMBARGOED UNTIL MAY 1, 2019 AT 9:00 AM ET

Media Contacts
Renee Oehlerking Leslie Humbel
Cochlear Americas Edelman
303-264-2104 312-729-1781
roehlerking@cochlear.com
leslie.humbel@edelman.com

Survey reveals hearing loss can significantly affect relationships and families in
the U.S.

State of Hearing Report highlights the physical, emotional and societal challenges of hearing loss
Centennial, Colo. (May 1, 2019) — Three in four U.S. adults aged 65 years and older believe hearing loss is unavoidable and an inevitable part of aging, according to a new global report released to recognize Better Hearing and Speech Month in May.

The State of Hearing Report also highlights how hearing loss can affect a person’s day-to-day-life, self esteem and ability to communicate as their families feel the strain. In the U.S., 57 percent of respondents said it could cause social isolation and 86 percent said it could affect relationships. Sponsored by Cochlear, the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, the State of Hearing Report was a global survey to evaluate the challenges faced by people with hearing loss. Respondents in the U.S. included 1,269 adults, including 208 people aged 60 years and older. Notably, nearly 60 percent of people in the U.S. report having a close family member who has moderate to profound hearing loss, with more than one in three of those respondents stating that the hearing loss has had some level of impact on their communication.

“Results from the State of Hearing Report echo what physicians and advocacy groups who support those with hearing loss have known for many years – that hearing loss can have a profound impact on an individual’s personal, family and even professional life,” said Barbara Kelley, Executive Director, Hearing Loss Association of America. “These findings shine a spotlight on the serious need for additional education for the 48 million Americans who have some degree of hearing loss, but are unaware of options that will address their hearing loss and allow them to better function in their day-to-day lives.” Despite 95 percent of U.S. respondents recognizing that the ability to hear is important for overall quality of life, only 41 percent have had a hearing test in the last two years, the report reveals. Among U.S. respondents over the age of 65 years, 87 percent said they knew where to get their hearing tested, but only 50 percent had acted to do so.

“As a practicing cochlear implant surgeon, I see first-hand both the burden debilitating hearing loss can have on a person and their family, but also the apathy with which they manage it,” said Brian Kaplan, M.D., Chairman, Department of Otolaryngology and Director, Cochlear Implant Program, Greater Baltimore (Md.) Medical Center, and Cochlear Medical Advisor. “There are millions of people in the U.S. who could benefit from the use of a hearing device, such as a cochlear implant or hearing aid, and I hope that more education around the true effect of hearing loss will drive patients and providers to seek proper diagnostic testing and treatment.”

Hearing loss is a significant public health issue in the U.S. and around the globe. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), hearing loss affects 466 million people worldwide, 1 and one in three people over the age of 65 live with severe to profound forms of the condition.1 WHO figures also predict the total number of people living with hearing loss will nearly double by 2050, and this increase will be most noticeable amongst older people.1 Moreover, as the prevalence rates rise, the global cost of unaddressed hearing loss has been estimated at $750 billion per year.1 “At Cochlear, we are driven by our mission to improve the lives of people with hearing loss. There is increasing evidence of the importance of hearing to overall health, especially as people age,” said Patricia Trautwein, AuD, Vice President, Marketing and Product Management, Cochlear Americas. “With almost a quarter of people 65 to 74 years of age suffering disabling hearing loss, it is more important than ever to understand the impact of untreated hearing loss on people’s health, our communities and the economy to ensure people turn to treatment sooner.”

The research of Cochlear’s State of Hearing Report coincides with the launch of its Sounds Inevitable campaign, which highlights the misperceptions many people have about hearing loss being an inevitable part of aging, leading to irregular hearing check-ups and delayed treatment.

About State of Hearing Report
The State of Hearing Report 2019 is the result of a five-minute, online survey among a representative sample of n=7,275 adults aged 18 year and older in five countries, including Australia, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Important global trends emerged about perspectives of how hearing affects individuals and communities after speaking with more than 7,200 people, including more than 1,000 aged 60 years and older with hearing loss. In the U.S., the nationally representative cohort included n=1,061 general population respondents and 208 respondents aged 60 years and older. The survey was fielded between December 12-30, 2018.

About Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH)
Cochlear is the global leader in implantable hearing solutions. The company has a global workforce of more than 3,500 people and invests more than AUD$160 million each year in research and development. Products include cochlear implants, bone conduction implants and acoustic implants, which healthcare professionals use to treat a range of moderate to profound types of hearing loss. Since 1981, Cochlear has provided more than 550,000 implantable devices, helping people of all ages, in more than 100 countries, to hear. www.cochlear.com/us

References
1. World Health Organization. Deafness & Hearing Loss Factsheet. Available at https://www.who.int/news-room/factsheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss. Please seek advice from your health professional about treatments for hearing loss. Outcomes may vary, and your health professional will advise you about the factors which could affect your outcome. Always read the instructions for use. Not all products are available in all countries. Please contact your local Cochlear representative for product information.

© Cochlear Limited 2019. All rights reserved. Cochlear, Hear now. And always, Nucleus, Baha, the elliptical logo and marks bearing an ® or ™ symbol, are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Cochlear Bone Anchored Solutions AB or Cochlear
Limited (unless otherwise noted).