HearingPlanet Donates Hearing Aids to Warren Center
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 – 0 Comments
Warren Center Receives Donation of 22 Hearing Aids from HearingPlanet, Inc.
“We are so grateful.” says Warren Center Clinical Director of Audiology Amanda Samoluk, Au.D., CCC-A. Samoluk is responding to the donation of 22 hearing aids from HearingPlanet, Inc. of Tennessee. HearingPlanet located the Warren Center and its Regional Hearing Aid Bank program on the web and thought it was the perfect place to give a few hearing aids.
The Regional Hearing Aid Bank, ReHAB for short, is designed to provide hearing aids to those members of our community who are unable to afford them. It utilizes donated behind-the-ear hearing aids which can be refurbished and reprogrammed for use by another person.
The ReHAB program is designed particularly for members of the community who are unable to be served by the Veterans’ Administration, Vocational Rehabilitation program, insurances or other third-party providers and whose annual income is less than 200% of the federal poverty level. There is an application process and a waiting list for these services. Currently the Warren Center has a three year waiting list for a ReHAB hearing aid.
Hearing loss is the most common neurological disability in the United States. And the impact of hearing loss on the personal and professional lives of the deaf or hard-of-hearing and on society is profound.
The number of adults in the United States with hearing loss is rising, especially in the late-deafened adult sector as the baby boomer population reaches retirement age. Noise pollution – the increased volume levels in the work place – has become more prevalent and manifests as premature hearing loss.
And we’re living longer than ever before. As the elderly population grows, so does the need for hearing-restoration technologies. Hearing aids and emerging technology will contribute to keeping the severely deafened individuals of this age group in the work force until retirement.
About Warren Center
The Warren Center for Communication & Learning is Bangor’s oldest not-for-profit professional speech and hearing center. It provides evaluations, therapies and technologies in the areas of speech, language development and hearing to the children and adults of, Eastern and Central Maine.