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Palm Lutheran Church

Senior Hearing Program

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A significant proportion of seniors with impaired hearing either do not have or do not use a hearing aid.  This is especially serious for hearing-impaired seniors if they can’t understand health care providers or clergy, or participate in family or legal discussions about their care.

A recent Wall Street Journal article estimated that 80% of people with impaired hearing, of all ages, do not use hearing aids.  That corresponds to about 24 million people in the U.S.  The PA Department of Aging estimates that about 20,600 residents of Lebanon are age 65 and over.

The Solution

Provide simple assistive listening devices that can be used by more than one person, to Lebanon County nursing homes, senior centers and churches.  We funded this project using $1,800 from Thrivent and Palm’s new ministries fund and another $450 from private donations.  With a budget of $2,250, about 100 devices could be manufactured and distributed, with the ultimate potential to provide short-term hearing assistance to dozens of people. 

Why Manufacturing

Simple, low-cost assistive listening devices, that deliver quality audio, are not commercially available.  A few inexpensive units are available online, but they perform poorly and do not provide hearing protection from loud noises.

Benefits of Proposed Project

● Immediate critical hearing assistance to Lebanon County seniors

● Potential inducement for some seniors to buy/use a traditional hearing aid

● New community outreach program for Palm Lutheran Church

● Faith-based response to an unmet public health need

The Hearing Device

The device is a wired Assistive Listening Device designed to provide voice amplification and minimize background noise, to be simple and very low cost.  It consists of a microphone and amplifier, in a compact case, a matched set of headphones worn by the hearer and a connecting cable.

 The device amplifies ambient sound, especially the higher frequencies detected by the human ear.  Those frequencies are the more difficult to hear for most people with hearing loss.  A limiter circuit is included that automatically lowers the headphone volume when a loud noise is detected, protecting the hearer from excessive volume.  The device is designed to be placed near the person speaking, rather than worn like a hearing aid.  By placing the device and its microphone close to the speaker, the speaker-to-microphone distance is reduced and that improves the signal to background noise ratio.  This device was developed by one of our members, in response to his mother’s deteriorating hearing, her poor experience with hearing aids and the lack of alternatives.

Project Execution

What We Have Learned

Initially, the people we contacted assumed that our devices were personal hearing aids.  Most didn’t fully understand the concept of an “institutional” hearing device until the unit was demonstrated for them.  At that point, acceptance was universal and many expressed relief that they might now be able to communicate with some of their residents or patients.  We also learned that many facilities serving seniors are required by the Americans with Disabilities Act to provide assistive listening devices like ours.

 HearAssist devices were distributed to 40 sites in Lebanon County and one site in Dauphin County that provides ambulance services to western Lebanon County.  These sites represented nursing homes, hospitals, senior centers, senior housing, ambulance/EMT services, churches, eldercare and a funeral home.  In return for some of the units, donations of $405 were received and returned to the Senior Hearing account. 

 At each facility that has responded to the survey, 2-3 severely hearing impaired people who were willing to use the device were able to hear much better as a result.  Some of these people have and use hearing aids, but need more amplification.  Palm’s device worked with the hearing aids in such cases when the headphones were worn over the hearing aids. 

 We will follow up with all of the sites to determine how and how often the units are used, whether more units would be helpful and what problems are encountered.  Any units no longer being used will be collected and placed at other sites that are willing to use them.  Damaged units will be repaired and returned. 

Beyond the Current Project

Because the project seems to be a success, it may be extended to other Pennsylvania counties, using other funding sources and involving other churches.  One option would be to obtain funding for a contractor to produce a large number of units which would then be provided at or below cost to churches in other counties that were willing to replicate Palm’s program.  Palm would provide training and other assistance (i.e., literature templates, facility lists) to assure the success of their project. 

 Other project extensions are also being considered that would be a departure from traditional church programs, but could assure financial stability for the program while addressing senior hearing needs in the for-profit sector.

11 West Cherry St. - Palmyra, Pa 17078 - Phone 717-838-3311 - John D. Merkel, Pastor