The March edition of Probes and Tips is now available:  When to Answer a Screening Question with More Questions. This edition includes such items as:

• Tips for helping colleagues successfully implement hearing screening–before spending money!
• Questions to ask of your associates to help them think through the service system infrastructure needed in relation to:
  1. Access to/Relationships with families
  2. Access to medical/audiological services
  3. A system for tracking
  4. Stable staffing
  5. A service area
  6. Focus on child language development and hearing

Link: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs154/1102782899287/archive/1112649140682.html

Scientists say babies decipher speech as early as three months before birth. The evidence comes from detailed brain scans of 12 infants born prematurely. At just 28 weeks’ gestation, the babies appeared to discriminate between different syllables like “ga” and “ba” as well as male and female voices. The research lends support to the idea that babies develop language skills while still in the womb in response to their parents’ voices. But it is still debated whether humans are born with an innate ability to process speech or whether this is something acquired through learning after birth.

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21572520

In 2012, WHO released new estimates on the magnitude of disabling hearing loss. The estimates are based on a review of 42 population-based studies carried out up to 2010. Based on these, the estimates are as follows:

• There are 360 million persons in the world with disabling hearing loss (5.3% of the world’s population).
• 328 million (91%)of these are adults (183 million males, 145 million females)
• 32 (9%) million of these are children.
• The prevalence of disabling hearing loss in children is greatest in South Asia, Asia Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa
• Approximately one-third of persons over 65 years are affected by disabling hearing loss.
• The prevalence of disabling hearing loss in adults over 65 years is highest in South Asia, Asia Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa.

For a short PowerPoint presentation that provides further information on these estimates, please follow this link.

Link: http://www.who.int/pbd/deafness/estimates/en/index.html

Given the rapid adoption of telehealth and tele-intervention, reimbursement for this mode of delivery also is rapidly changing. The typical sources of reimbursement for early intervention services are Medicaid, private insurance, and Part C. For more information to pursue reimbursement from these sources, please review the page on reimbursement as part of the Tele-intervention Guide by following this link. 

Link: http://www.infanthearing.org/ti-guide/reimbursement.html

WHO is undertaking a twitter and FB campaign on the occasion of International Ear Care Day. The campaign will be running over the next few days. Please feel free to join in and give your thoughts and opinions on the issue of hearing loss.

You can join it at https://twitter.com/@WHO

Also, watch out for hearing loss stories on the WHO Facebook account.

Link: https://twitter.com/@WHO

More than 360 million people have disabling hearing loss, according to new global estimates released by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO), which adds that production of hearing aids is not keeping up with the urgent demand. Another 32 million people affected by hearing loss are children under the age of 15. Many of whom live in low- and middle-income countries – particularly in South Asia, Asia and the Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa – where untreated ear infections lead to hearing loss.

Link: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44245&Cr=health&Cr1=#.US-jVjCsh8E

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a group of progenitor cells in the inner ear that can become the sensory hair cells and adjacent supporting cells that enable hearing.

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130226081234.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fhealth_medicine%2Fhearing_loss+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Health+%26+Medicine+News+--+Hearing+Loss%29

Mediclinic City Hospital and hearLIFE Clinic, both in Dubai Healthcare City, have formed a unique alliance to provide the most advanced services in the treatment of hearing loss. The hearLIFE Clinic is the first clinic in the Middle East purely dedicated to the treatment of hearing loss, and their services include state-of-the-art cochlear implants.

Link: http://www.ameinfo.com/mediclinic-city-hospital-hearlife-clinic-announce-330136

For the first time, researchers have snapped pictures of mouse inner ear cells using an approach that doesn’t damage tissue or require elaborate dyes. The approach could offer a way to investigate hearing loss — the most common sensory deficit in the world — and may help guide the placement of cochlear devices or other implants.

Link: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/348394/description/Imaging_technique_offers_look_inside_hearing_loss

The February edition of Probes and Tips is now available:  ABCs of Hearing & Hearing Loss.
This edition includes such items as:

• A highlight of the Hearing Loss in Young Children webinar (45 mins.) that covers topics, such as:

1. Anatomy of the ear
2. Types/Degrees of hearing loss
3. Simulation of a hearing loss
4. Roles of Early Head Start staff

• You  can watch the webinar at your convenience and pass the link along to others who could benefit from it.

Link: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs154/1102782899287/archive/1112338439675.html