Life-changing differences through hearing Hearing Aids Hearing and the brain Hearing health is not only about hearing. It is also about over- all health and well-being. We know this from Oticon’s many years of intense research of the complex and vital relationship between hearing and the brain. We have gathered all this insight in the concept of BrainHearing™, which encompass- es our unique perspective on how the brain hears while also considering how this knowledge can become ground-breaking technology to benefit millions of people with hearing loss. Improving hearing rehabilitation standards As part of the Better Hearing Rehabilitation project (BEAR), we contribute to improving hearing rehabilitation within the public healthcare system in Denmark. With BEAR, the industry, public clinics and academia join forces to challenge the status quo of hearing rehabilitation in public clinics, proposing fitting strategies and diagnostic tests which consider individual variations. We have met our 2021-target by continuing to deepen our knowledge in different areas related to BrainHearing and ex- ploring new dimensions of benefit using new outcome mea - sures. This has led us to document less effort in hearing and thus validate the positive impact that our BrainHearing tech- nology has on our users. We expanded the concept to explore BrainHearing for children. In 2021, key insights from BEAR was used for recommenda- tions for Danish healthcare authorities to revise the standards of quality guidelines for public hearing rehabilitation for adults. The project is an example of how our research endeavours enable us to make a clear and real-life difference for people with hearing loss. In 2022, we will further investigate the benefit of well-treated hearing loss among children (e.g., emotion perception, par- ticipation and communication) and continue to explore new methods within BrainHearing technology. Read more in note 1.2.2 Read more in note 1.2.3 Dementia, depression and hearing loss At Ear Science Institute Australia (ESIA), Oticon is partnering on projects to investigate the link between dementia and de- pression and living with hearing loss. Studies were kickstarted in 2021 and will move forward in 2022. 51 Demant ∙ Sustainability Report 2021
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