Authors: Crystal Rolfe¹; Lola Russell¹; Franki Oliver¹; Alastair Moore¹; Victoria Boelman¹
¹Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID)
Background: Across the UK, it is estimated that over 10 million people could benefit from hearing aids, but only 3 million people use them. When people try to get help with their hearing, they struggle with confusing processes, limited appointments, and inflexible support options. Untreated hearing loss has significant negative consequences for social connection, loneliness, mental health, and health-related quality of life. Improving access to hearing healthcare is a critical public health issue. RNID has been exploring how technology could transform adult hearing healthcare by improving efficiency and enabling services to better meet people’s needs.
Method: We used a mixed methods approach including surveys, interviews, workshops, and focus groups to capture perspectives from healthcare professionals, academics, technologists, and people with lived experience.
Results: People with lived experience expressed a strong need for more accessible, flexible, and person-centred service. Key themes included: Lack of routine hearing checks and public awareness; confusing and complex referral processes; interest in technologies that support easier and more flexible ways to get support; and a strong desire for self-management tools and accessible information. Professionals highlighted technologies tested in research environments, healthcare services for other long-term conditions, or in other countries.
Conclusion: The findings identified four key opportunities for technology to improve services: identifying early signs of hearing loss; support quicker diagnosis of hearing loss; make it easier for people to get support; and empower people to manage their hearing health. These findings informed RNID’s “Hearing Care Reimagined Report.” Beyond individual technologies, there is also the potential to harness population health data to create meaningful benefits for people, services, and the health system.
