May 14, 2025 • 34 mins
Bridget Dobyan, Executive Director of the Hearing Industries Association (HIA), joins us to share her remarkable journey from childhood hearing loss to becoming a powerful advocate for hearing health policy. Diagnosed with cholesteatoma at age 8, she experienced sudden hearing loss at 11 when the condition severely damaged the bones in her middle ear. But rather than letting this define her limitations, Bridget used it as a foundation for understanding the issues she'd later address as a leader in hearing healthcare policy.
We explore the fascinating differences between traditional hearing aids, cochlear implants, and bone-anchored devices, while dispelling outdated perceptions about hearing technology. Today's hearing devices are sleek, sophisticated, and Bluetooth-enabled—a far cry from the "beige bananas" many still picture. Yet despite technological advances, hearing health remains severely undertreated, with millions of Americans neglecting annual hearing evaluations.
The conversation shifts to HIA's groundbreaking "Hear Well" campaign, which has generated over $23 million in earned media through positive, stigma-busting messaging. For Better Hearing Month this May, they're launching "Happy Dance 2.0," offering hearing professionals free, downloadable assets to spark vital conversations about hearing health.
Whether you're a hearing care professional looking for practice resources, someone experiencing hearing difficulties, or simply interested in protecting your hearing health, this episode offers valuable insights into how addressing hearing loss connects directly to overall wellbeing, professional success, and quality of life. Visit hearing.org today to access free campaign resources and join the movement to make hearing health a priority.
Connect with the Hearing Matters Podcast Team
Email: hearingmatterspodcast@gmail.com
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Twitter: @hearing_mattas
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Welcome back to another episodeof the Hearing Matters Podcast.
I'm founder and host, BlaiseDelfino, and, as a friendly
reminder, this podcast isseparate from my work at Starkey
.
You're tuned into the HearingMatters Podcast, the show that
(00:59):
discusses hearing technology,best practices and a global
epidemic hearing loss.
I'm your host, Blaise Delfino,and joining us today is Bridget
Dobyan.
Bridget is the ExecutiveDirector of the Hearing
Industries Association, whereshe leads the organization's
strategic initiatives andadvocacy efforts.
(01:21):
Prior to this role, she servedas HIA's Director of Public
Policy.
Bridget has a diversebackground in nonprofit
leadership, federal and stategovernment affairs and
legislative policy.
She previously worked onCapitol Hill as Legislative
Director for US RepresentativeDave Trott of Michigan, advised
(01:45):
the Michigan Senate on policymatters and managed government
affairs for a WashingtonDC-based energy efficiency
advocacy organization.
She holds a JD from MichiganState University College of Law
and a BA in Poli Sci fromSaginaw Valley State University.
She is a member of both theState Bar of Michigan and the DC
(02:08):
Bar.
Now a little bit about theHearing Industries Association.
Hia was formed in 1955 andserves as a forum for hearing
aid manufacturers, suppliers,distributors and hearing health
professionals.
Their members are responsiblefor the majority of the over 5
million hearing aids that arepurchased in the United States
(02:30):
on an annual basis.
Today, hia remains the onlyassociation in America to
represent hearing aid technology.
Bridget, welcome to the HearingMatters podcast.
We are so thrilled and excitedto have you on the show.
Bridget Dobyan (02:45):
Blaise, thank you so much.
Happy to be here.
That was quite an intro.
You make me sound so impressive.
Blaise Delfino (02:51):
Well, it is an impressive background, Bridget,
and I couldn't help but thinkreading that bio.
Thank you so much for allyou've done and continue to do
for our industry, because wehonestly couldn't think of
anyone better to take thischarge and lead the way.
So, truly thank you.
And as a hearing careprofessional, I can absolutely
(03:13):
vouch for how helpful HIA hasbeen.
And we'll get into a little bitof the history, Bridget, of HIA
, but you have quite the storyas well.
Bring us back to the beginningof your hearing loss journey.
You know when you were firstdiagnosed and what do you
remember most about thatexperience?
Bridget Dobyan (03:35):
It dates back quite a ways.
You know, I as a kid I hadconstant ear infections,
constant ear problems.
I was always in seeing mypediatrician for it, you know,
having the regular hearing testsjust through him, until he
realized that there wassomething that was a little more
, a little deeper, that wasgoing on.
(03:55):
So when I was probably abouteight years old, I was referred
to an ENT and I always get akind of a kick out of this.
My first ENT, dr Loudon, and Ialways get a kind of a kick out
of this.
My first ENT, dr Loudon, which Ialways thought that having loud
in the name of an ENT it waskismet.
It was meant to be that hewould become an ENT.
So with the guidance of DrLoudon and the treatment of Dr
(04:16):
Loudon, that's when wediscovered that I actually had
claustrotoma, you know sogrowths in the ear, and it was
remarkably invasive in my case.
We knew that by the time theyfigured out that was going on,
that I would likely lose thehearing in my left ear.
So at that point I'm probablynine years old, 10 years old as
(04:36):
I'm going through this, you know, figuring out what closteotoma
is, which an eight or nine yearold, doesn't really know what
that is, talking with my doctorand I knew that the hearing loss
would come.
And sure enough, when I was 11,one day it just cut out.
I was at school and all of asudden I heard a little bit of
ringing in my ear and then itwas gone.
Blaise Delfino (04:59):
Wow, scary.
Bridget Dobyan (05:02):
Well, I knew it was coming, so props to my
medical team that they had, youknow, fully apprised me.
That was what would likelyhappen, you know.
And in between all of thatthere were multiple surgeries to
actually remove theclaustrotoma and I think it took
four surgeries in total.
At that point they were jokingthat they should just put a
zipper in behind my ear, make iteasier to access and keep
(05:23):
removing.
After they removed theclosteatoma, there was a lot of
cleanup work to do.
Certainly, there was scartissue, there was a lot of
problems, and at that point theyrealized that the closteatoma
had essentially eradicated thehearing bones, completely
destroyed the hearing bones inmy middle ear.
Blaise Delfino (05:41):
So, bridget, speaking of the hearing bones,
they are the smallest bones inthe body the malleus, incus and
stapes and they take thatacoustic energy and transfer it
into mechanical energy.
So those bones were compromised.
What was your journey like?
Adapting to hearing loss andthen eventually moving forward
with a bone anchored hearing aid?
Bridget Dobyan (06:03):
I don't remember it completely changing the way
I went about my day.
You know, we of course hadconversations with my teachers,
just so they were fully apprised.
It was actually a while beforeI went the Baja path.
At that point I'd been referredto a specialist down in the
Detroit area with the MichiganEar Institute, dr Jack Cartouche
, and he had developed aprosthetic bone, and so we
(06:26):
actually tried to do animplanted prosthetic bone to see
if we could, you know, gainthat function again.
And it did not take,unfortunately, you know.
So we tried a few things inbetween until we realized mostly
my parents realized that itjust wasn't going to work and so
we had to start talking abouthearing technology and based on,
(06:47):
you know, my closteotoma, thedamage that had been done to my
middle ear, at that point theprevailing opinion would be that
, the bone anchored, hearing aidwould be the way to go.
Blaise Delfino (07:03):
So how old were you when you?
Bridget Dobyan (07:03):
eventually moved forward with the Baha or the
bone anchored hearing aid.
Yeah, at that point.
I was a teenager, so it'd been afew years in between losing the
hearing, trying the prostheticimplant and then moving forward
on the hearing technology.
And there were a couple ofadditional surgeries that were
in there because, you know, justto make it even more fun.
Not only did I have theclaustrotoma issues, but I also
had holes in the balance canals,and so they were going in to
(07:25):
patch those because I haddizziness issues, which is not
uncommon, of course, for peoplewith hearing loss.
Blaise Delfino (07:33):
Bridget, this is and being that young and
experiencing the dizziness,experiencing the hearing loss,
especially unilaterally.
Bring us through the experienceyou had with those dizzy spells
being so young.
What was that like?
Bridget Dobyan (07:48):
That was probably the hardest part of
everything.
The hearing loss, as I recallit didn't actually bother me
that much.
I sort of adapted to it andfigured out I would turn my head
a lot, I knew where to sit,knew where to stand, knew how to
adapt to that.
But the dizziness, I mean thatwould kind of take you out of
nowhere and it took a whilebefore you actually take that
(08:10):
surgical route to patch thosecanals.
And you know, out of those onlytwo are easily accessible and
to access the third one wouldhave been a very invasive
surgery that goes in at actuallythe base of your skull to get
to that point.
So we opted not to do that.
So it was.
You know, try a low sodium dietfirst.
You know it's trying to gothrough these lifestyle changes
(08:32):
before you take that next stepto actually have the surgery.
So I think the dizziness wasarguably worse than the hearing
loss, for me at least.
Blaise Delfino (08:40):
And having gone through all of that for lack of
a better term so young in yourage allows you now, today, I'm
sure to really yes, see throughthe Hearing Matters podcast.
So they might be asking youknow what's the difference
(09:06):
between a hearing aid, cochlearimplant and a Baja?
Well, if we start with the mostfamiliar hearing aids, so these
are devices that you'll, youknow, wear in or behind your ear
and they amplify sound and thensend it through your natural
hearing pathway.
So your outer ear and middleear need to essentially be
(09:28):
intact, and this is very I'musing very elementary terms here
.
So think of, with hearing aids,it's like you're turning up the
volume around you, but it's alot more sophisticated than that
.
If someone has a more severe orprofound hearing loss,
especially if understandingspeech is tough, even with
powerful hearing aids, that'swhere cochlear implants come in,
(09:48):
and these are surgicallyimplanted devices that bypass
the damaged parts of the innerear and then send sound directly
to the hearing nerves.
And finally, we have the Baha,which is the bone anchored
hearing aid.
Now this technology worksdifferently.
So, instead of sending soundthrough the earaha, which is the
bone anchored hearing aid, nowthis technology works
differently.
So, instead of sending soundthrough the ear canal, it sends
(10:09):
vibrations through the bone tothe inner ear, and it's a great
option for patients with chronicear infections, conductive loss
or even single sided deafness.
So, bridget, did I get that allcorrect?
Bridget Dobyan (10:21):
You did, you did .
Yeah, I think that the Bajatechnology is absolutely
fascinating and it kind of blowspeople's minds when I talk
about it because it's a littlebizarre.
Right, it's a titanium screwthat's implanted in your skull.
So that's one surgery, and thenthere's, of course, a recovery
time.
Then they make sure that thescrew is actually solid in the
(10:43):
bone at that point, beforeyou're then fitted with the
processor, which is just, youknow, a simple small box.
It's about the size of yourthumbnail and that snaps onto
the titanium screw, and thenit's bone conduction at that
point.
So you essentially hear it inyour head.
I always describe it as sort ofthe tuning fork effect.
I think most of us in musicclass when we were kids, right,
(11:06):
your teacher would go around andwould ding the fork and then
put it to your head or put it toyour temple, and it's that same
type of sensation.
Blaise Delfino (11:14):
The evolution of technology.
Do you notice a difference interms of sound quality?
Of course we have.
You know it's vibrationsthrough the skull, but can you
personally tell a differencebetween when you were first fit
(11:35):
with bone anchored hearing aidsto today?
Bridget Dobyan (11:37):
Yes, I can, and I've actually only had two
processors in my entire time ofusing Abaha.
Two processors in my entiretime of using Abaha.
That's mostly my fault.
I pretty much rode that firstone until it was technically
obsolete.
When I went in for my upgrade afew years ago, my young
audiologist who was pretty freshout of school she looked at my
(11:58):
old processor and she actuallycouldn't figure out how to open
up the battery compartmentbecause it had changed so much.
Blaise Delfino (12:04):
Hey Bridget, can you show me how to do this
please?
Bridget Dobyan (12:09):
I briefly questioned whether I would stay
at that practice or not.
Now she's fantastic and that'sa testament to the product
itself.
But when I finally did upgrade,it was a significant difference
, from the sound quality to theconnectivity, to even the
battery life with it.
(12:31):
It was a significantimprovement.
Blaise Delfino (12:33):
And for consumers tuning in.
When you mention connectivity,what do you mean by that?
Bridget Dobyan (12:40):
So Bluetooth streaming I think again one of
the craziest features with theBaja, and Bluetooth is pretty
standard with hearing aids atthis point across the spectrum,
which is incredible becausewe're all kind of attached to
our phones for better or forworse.
But it's great that I canlisten to music, I can take
phone calls, I can listen to mypodcast and again it's in my
(13:02):
head because it's boneconduction.
So when I try to convey thatconcept to different people,
they're like wait a minute, youcan actually just hear it in
your head.
I said, yes, I'm taking thisphone call in my head, right?
Blaise Delfino (13:14):
Which, again, we live in the most socially
connected demographic.
So when we feel and hear thatconnection especially if you
present with a hearing loss, youfeel more immersed and
connected in your everydayconversations.
Now, bridget, we briefly sharedyour biography so impressive.
You are an attorney and youhave deep policy expertise
(13:38):
working at the state, federaland advocacy levels.
Living with hearing loss, itcan be deeply emotional at times
and isolating.
I mean we are absolutelyexperiencing a loneliness
epidemic.
Can you share how it shapedyour personal and professional
journey and really what it'smeant to you to thrive in such
(14:02):
high impact spaces despite thechallenges?
Dr?
Bridget Dobyan (14:06):
Yeah, absolutely .
I think it's really importantto note that everyone's
experience is vastly differentand in my experience, I was
incredibly blessed to havesupportive parents that had
great insurance, that got meinto the right professionals,
that built the medical teamaround me, the professional team
(14:28):
around me that sought out thebest of the best and were able
to do that and then made surethat even to this day, my mom
still gives me a call.
She says are you using yourBaja, are you wearing your Baja?
And so it's making sure that Ihad that support system around
me so that it just became normal.
It's just an everyday part ofmy life.
It wasn't this standout part ofmy personality and it wasn't a
(14:53):
struggle because it just becameso ingrained Get up, plug it in,
go to school, do your thing.
Blaise Delfino (15:00):
Bridget.
When you're a teenager at thispoint did your classmates have
difficulty understanding, maybe,what it was you were wearing?
How did you bridge the gapbetween educating your fellow
classmates on?
I have hearing loss and this isa bone anchored hearing aid
(15:21):
that I wear.
How did you educate yourclassmates on that and did you
experience any pushback?
If you're comfortable sharing,because I mean you're a teenager
and it's like you know,sometimes you know kids at that
age.
They don't really understand orcould be possible.
You know bullying or somethinglike that.
Did you experience any of that?
None, that's so good to hear.
Bridget Dobyan (15:40):
And again, I know that my experience is not
everyone's experience with aBaja.
A benefit of it is that youknow I'm wearing it right now
and you can't see it, even whenyour hair is up and you're
looking straight on.
You honestly have to be lookingat me directly from the side to
even notice it.
But I've never hidden it either.
I think that it's a really coolpiece of technology that helps
(16:03):
me fully function in my everydaylife.
So I've never had a problemwearing it.
Never had a problem explainingit.
So I've never had a problemwearing it.
Never had a problem explainingit.
Because, again, the concept ofa bone anchored hearing aid just
kind of blows people's minds.
They say that's actually verycool and for a brief moment you
almost see a glimmer that theywant one too.
Blaise Delfino (16:23):
Well, and today we have the bone anchored
headphones.
I mean, I don't have a pair.
I'd love to get a pair, butI've experienced what they sound
like and it's pretty, prettyamazing.
And you know if you've receiveda hearing evaluation, you know
part of best practice is testingbone conduction.
So if you currently wearhearing aids and you're getting
(16:45):
your annual hearing evaluation,chances are your hearing care
professional is testing boneconduction.
So you've experienced thatsensation of hearing, that tone
in your head.
Bridget, I asked you about, youknow, going through school with
a bone anchored hearing aid andthere was a statistic released
(17:06):
around 2017, 2018, 2019.
So I've got my basis coveredthere and I can link this study.
But untreated hearing loss, itwas said, is linked to over a
billion dollars of lost USearnings.
Now, that could bemiscommunication.
That could be education level.
You know, what advice would youpersonally give to young
(17:28):
professionals or students whopresent with hearing loss, who
might be questioning whetherthey can pursue these big goals
like law, like leadership, likeadvocacy?
Bridget Dobyan (17:40):
Oh, that you absolutely can, and you don't
have to make hearing loss yourentire personality or your
entire struggle.
This is a value add at the endof the day.
Blaise Delfino (17:53):
So you are the executive director of the
Hearing Industries Associationand you and I surprisingly first
met at the HIA annual meeting acouple of weeks ago in DC and
we got to talking and I was likeBridget, we have to have you on
the Hearing Matters podcast.
And first and foremost, I haveto congratulate you and Lindsay
(18:16):
and the entire team at HIA for afirst class event.
It was just unbelievable.
So, being the executivedirector of HIA, how has your
personal experience with hearingloss influenced the way that
you lead and advocate for betterhearing health policy?
Bridget Dobyan (18:34):
So when I came into this industry, I actually
didn't know that this entireworld existed, from the
professional associations to theconsumer advocacy groups all
the way up to the industry tradeassociation.
I met my predecessor for acoffee, just to meet her.
You know, a standard DCnetworking and you know by the
(18:57):
end of this conversation I justhappened to mention that I have
hearing loss and use a Baja, andshe couldn't believe it either.
So not knowing that all of thiswas out there and this entire
system and network that is socollaborative actually exists.
I think that shows us that wehave a lot more work to do to be
(19:19):
engaging people with hearingloss, their families and
professionals along the way.
I mean, there are times that Igo to different conferences and
conventions at the state leveland at the national level and
people still don't know exactlywho we are and what we do.
So we need to do a much betterjob at conveying that message.
Blaise Delfino (19:40):
Again, as I previously stated, we are the
most socially connecteddemographic to ever exist.
And, bridget, a couple of weeksago I gave a presentation on
hearing protection and, ofcourse, hearing loss.
And weeks ago I gave apresentation on hearing
protection and, of course,hearing loss and the importance
of protecting your hearing, andet cetera, et cetera.
And I asked the crowd.
I said, okay, for those of youwho saw the dentist this year
(20:01):
and got your teeth clean, raiseyour hand.
Pretty much everyone raisedtheir hand.
That was good to see.
And then I asked about vision.
Same thing.
I asked about hearing.
There was like two or threepeople that raised their hand
who had seen or gotten an annualhearing evaluation and that to
me was like we have so much morework to do and we have such an
(20:22):
opportunity to raise awarenessof hearing health care.
Bridget, a conversation thatyou and I had a couple of days
ago was there's 44 millionAmericans who present with
hearing loss on an audiogram andthen there's another 26 million
Americans who present withdifficulty in noisy situations
but present with normal hearingon an audiogram.
(20:44):
And when we talk about accessto hearing health care, in my
professional opinion, there isnot enough hearing care
professionals in the country toserve all of these individuals.
Is this a conversation that HIAis having to raise awareness
not only of the technology andthe importance of visiting a
hearing health care, but alsoencouraging students to get into
(21:07):
the field?
Bridget Dobyan (21:08):
Yeah, this is a conversation that, across the
hearing health space, everyone'shaving and everyone's having
together, because it impacts allof us.
Again, from the professionalperspective, from the consumer
perspective certainly, access orcoverage of hearing health care
(21:34):
from both a professionalservice perspective as well as
from devices we need to makesure that consumers actually
have professionals that they canreach, professionals that they
can see in their communities.
So this is certainly somethingthat we all are working on
together.
Blaise Delfino (21:45):
Excellent, Bridget.
You work closely withpolicymakers and stakeholders
really across the country.
How do you use your own storywhen raising awareness at that
level and do you find that itresonates with decision makers?
Bridget Dobyan (22:02):
I do, I do.
There is still lingering stigmaaround hearing loss and around
hearing aids, and so you know,with the devices themselves, a
big part of what HIA has doneand continues to do is making
sure that there are accuraterepresentations of hearing
technology.
We know that hearing tech hasbeen in the news a lot more, and
usually the pictures that mediasources are using they don't
(22:26):
actually reflect what's outthere on the market today.
Blaise Delfino (22:29):
What do you mean , bridget, the big beige banana
hearing aids are?
They're not aestheticallypleasing, yeah.
Bridget Dobyan (22:35):
Maybe some people have an affinity for them
, but it's.
I mean, there's something forevery, every style, every choice
.
You know the different formfactors of hearing devices, so
there's the accuraterepresentation piece of this
within the media.
But then there's alsoleveraging my personal story,
which I mean before this.
I'm not out there just tellingpeople I have hearing loss.
(22:56):
I just go about my day and Iadapt and I do what I need to do
.
But in this position I feellike I have a really unique
opportunity, being stillrelatively young and being able
to show a different face ofhearing loss, where I haven't
experienced the stigma, where Ihave seen that there is this
overall, you know, well-beingand improved quality of life.
(23:18):
And again, the tech is justvery cool.
Blaise Delfino (23:22):
Yes, it's not only cool but it's advancing and
innovation is happening at sucha rapid pace, especially as we
lean into artificialintelligence.
Now, bridget, you had mentionedcampaigns and misrepresentation
, with media outlets usingphotos of old hearing technology
(23:44):
and the styles.
Today they're still behind theear hearing aids, they're still
full shell in the ear hearingaids, but we now have different
color options.
Right, and we were talking acouple of days ago and, of
course, years ago.
About six years ago, hia firstinitiated their Hear Well, stay
(24:05):
Vital campaign.
Today it is now referred to asthe Hear Well campaign.
I will speak as a formerprivate practice owner when this
campaign was launched and theassets were shared with hearing
care professionals, because Idon't want to steal the thunder
here, but we use the assets thatyour team provided to the
(24:29):
entire nation to use duringBetter Hearing Month and beyond.
So, the Hear Well campaign ithas absolutely been a
cornerstone message for HIA.
How has the campaign evolvedover the years?
Bridget Dobyan (24:45):
Yeah, so the campaign, as you mentioned Blaze
started in 2019.
And it was really inanticipation of, and in advance
of, the new OTC over-the-counterhearing aid rule, and there
were concerns that consumerswould be confused with this
entirely new channel coming intothe market and what it meant.
(25:06):
How do you assess your hearingloss?
What are the different optionsthat are available for treatment
?
Even rolling it all the wayback to the most simple of
concepts, which is see a hearingprofessional first, rule out
any underlying medicalconditions or causes for the
hearing loss, perhaps it'ssomething just as simple as
cleaning the earwax out of yourear and you actually don't need
(25:28):
any type of hearing losstreatment at that point.
So the campaign was developedin its early stages with HLAA,
which is the Consumer AdvocacyGroup, the Hearing Loss
Association of America, and then, along with our professional
partners, the AudiologyProfessional Associations, aaa,
ada, asha, the dispensers withthe International Hearing
(25:50):
Society and so many more of ourpartners, to really develop this
consensus resource that wouldprovide those fundamental
questions that deal with hearingloss what is an audiologist,
what is a hearing aid specialist, what is an ENT, and what are
the different types of treatmentoptions available from there?
Blaise Delfino (26:09):
I love it and raising awareness really of what
an audiologist and a hearingcare professional is, because my
father is an audiologist and Ijust mentioned this in a recent
episode of there would beindividuals who asked him oh,
you're an audiologist, youchange out car radios.
Like how far, bridget, we'vecome.
But I love how, in response toOTC or over-the-counter hearing
(26:34):
aids, which again increasesaccess, increases accessibility
to better hearing, of course, ifthat is the route you as a
consumer feel as though is thebest route for you, absolutely
consult with a hearing careprofessional first to rule out
any possible etiologies.
(26:55):
Now, bridget, this yearspecifically it is May we are
celebrating Better Hearing Month.
What makes this year's focusespecially relevant for
consumers and hearing careprofessionals as it relates to
the Hear Well campaign?
Bridget Dobyan (27:10):
So, blaise, what I'm really excited about with
Better Hearing Month this yearis it is serving as the launch
for the next iteration of HIA'sPSA campaign and PSAs.
We've built these also since2019, and it's been incredible
the earned media value of thiscampaign.
And what's unique about PSAs isthat it's not device focused,
(27:34):
it's not technology focused.
It's a public healthannouncement, essentially, and
it focuses on the importance ofaddressing your hearing loss and
seeing a hearing professional.
That is the message at the endof each one of these PSA spots,
and what we found with our PSAcampaign is that positive works,
(27:54):
positive messaging, funmessaging.
We saw that with the lastversion of the campaign, which
was Happy Dance.
In two years of running thatcampaign, it resulted in over
$23 million of earned media justwithin that campaign.
Blaise Delfino (28:11):
Wow, $23 million of earned media, bridget, that
is incredible.
Bridget Dobyan (28:18):
And it's all around the importance of seeing
a professional and addressingyour hearing loss.
It's a great message, onethat's easy to understand, and
so, with this next version,which we have very creatively
termed Happy Dance 2.0, tocontinue that positive messaging
, we got a little weird and wegot fun and the best part with
(28:39):
these video spots.
We have seven 30 second spotsand we have six 15 second spots
with this messaging and alldifferent videos and imagery.
There's a puppy in one of them.
We have found that people.
Blaise Delfino (28:53):
Everyone loves puppies.
Bridget Dobyan (28:54):
Right.
People love puppies, so thesewill all be available on the
hearingorg website for all ofour partners to utilize as well,
not just within the PSA space.
Blaise Delfino (29:05):
So again, that is hearingorg and any hearing
care professional.
Bridget can download theseassets and then reuse them on
their own clinic websites andsocial media.
Bridget Dobyan (29:18):
Absolutely so.
Hearingorg.
It's an unbranded resource, sowe not only have the PSA videos,
but we have an additional videolibrary that has testimonials
from hearing care professionals,from consumers themselves.
We have a veteran-focused videoseries as well.
(29:38):
We have social media graphics,tiles, pretty much everything
you can think about.
It's all completely free to use, downloadable and you can
utilize it in your own practiceresources.
Blaise Delfino (29:50):
And Bridget, being that we are in Better
Hearing Month, our hearing careprofessionals can use these
assets throughout the year, andI'm thinking for those hearing
care professionals who say, oh,I don't really like social media
, I don't like to be on there,that's totally fine.
Use these assets and you canprogram them into your social
(30:12):
media and, of course, raiseawareness of better hearing.
So thank you and HIA forintroducing these assets,
because not every hearing careprofessional is comfortable
behind the camera.
They might want to be behindthe scenes, and these assets
allows you to raise awarenesswhile also feeling more
(30:32):
comfortable if you're notcomfortable posting on social
media.
Now, bridget, my last questionfor the day.
First of all, love your passion.
Thank you so much for all thatyou do for the industry.
How do you hope hearing careprofessionals and consumers will
use the PSA assets to sparkmore conversations around
(30:52):
hearing health?
Bridget Dobyan (30:54):
Thank you Within that question hit the nail on
the head.
It's about sparking theconversation.
We know that from previousversions of the market track
research study that HIA sponsorsand that comes out about every
two to three years, we know thata lot of consumers take that
step forward based on arecommendation from a
(31:15):
professional which makes sense,but also from friends and family
.
So even if you yourself don'thave hearing loss or don't wear
hearing aids or use hearing aids, you can still share these
messages with friends and family.
And even if social media isn'tnecessarily your jam, you can
also download.
(31:35):
We have postcard resources thathave you know, funny quips and
clips that again make theconversation around hearing
health much more engaging.
Right, it continues tode-stigmatize the issue.
It makes it just a part of youroverall health and wellbeing
the issue.
Blaise Delfino (31:54):
It makes it just a part of your overall health
and well-being.
Bridget, thank you so much, foryou know not only sharing your
journey, but your heart behindthe work that you're doing.
So thank you so much forjoining us on the Hearing
Matters podcast today.
Bridget Dobyan (32:04):
Thanks so much for those listening.
Blaise Delfino (32:06):
whether you are a hearing care professional,
someone with hearing loss orsimply someone who cares about
the health and vitality of yourloved ones, now is absolutely
the time to lean in.
The Hear Well campaign is notjust a slogan.
It truly is a movement, andit's one that reminds us that
hearing health is essential toliving fully, aging well and
(32:30):
staying connected to whatmatters most.
So here is our challenge to you, the listener Visit hearingorg,
download the campaign assets,share them on your social media
channels, bring them into yourclinics, conversations and
communities.
Use your voice to amplify themessage, because when more
people hear well, more peoplethrive.
(32:51):
Let's keep raising the volumeof hearing health together.
And again, bridget, thank youso much for joining us on the
Hearing Matters podcast.
Thank you to our partners.
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Welcome back to another episodeof the Hearing Matters Podcast.
I'm founder and host, BlaiseDelfino, and, as a friendly
reminder, this podcast isseparate from my work at Starkey
.
You're tuned into the HearingMatters Podcast, the show that
(00:59):
discusses hearing technology,best practices and a global
epidemic hearing loss.
I'm your host, Blaise Delfino,and joining us today is Bridget
Dobyan.
Bridget is the ExecutiveDirector of the Hearing
Industries Association, whereshe leads the organization's
strategic initiatives andadvocacy efforts.
(01:21):
Prior to this role, she servedas HIA's Director of Public
Policy.
Bridget has a diversebackground in nonprofit
leadership, federal and stategovernment affairs and
legislative policy.
She previously worked onCapitol Hill as Legislative
Director for US RepresentativeDave Trott of Michigan, advised
(01:45):
the Michigan Senate on policymatters and managed government
affairs for a WashingtonDC-based energy efficiency
advocacy organization.
She holds a JD from MichiganState University College of Law
and a BA in Poli Sci fromSaginaw Valley State University.
She is a member of both theState Bar of Michigan and the DC
(02:08):
Bar.
Now a little bit about theHearing Industries Association.
Hia was formed in 1955 andserves as a forum for hearing
aid manufacturers, suppliers,distributors and hearing health
professionals.
Their members are responsiblefor the majority of the over 5
million hearing aids that arepurchased in the United States
(02:30):
on an annual basis.
Today, hia remains the onlyassociation in America to
represent hearing aid technology.
Bridget, welcome to the HearingMatters podcast.
We are so thrilled and excitedto have you on the show.
Bridget Dobyan (02:45):
Blaise, thank you so much.
Happy to be here.
That was quite an intro.
You make me sound so impressive.
Blaise Delfino (02:51):
Well, it is an impressive background, Bridget,
and I couldn't help but thinkreading that bio.
Thank you so much for allyou've done and continue to do
for our industry, because wehonestly couldn't think of
anyone better to take thischarge and lead the way.
So, truly thank you.
And as a hearing careprofessional, I can absolutely
(03:13):
vouch for how helpful HIA hasbeen.
And we'll get into a little bitof the history, Bridget, of HIA
, but you have quite the storyas well.
Bring us back to the beginningof your hearing loss journey.
You know when you were firstdiagnosed and what do you
remember most about thatexperience?
Bridget Dobyan (03:35):
It dates back quite a ways.
You know, I as a kid I hadconstant ear infections,
constant ear problems.
I was always in seeing mypediatrician for it, you know,
having the regular hearing testsjust through him, until he
realized that there wassomething that was a little more
, a little deeper, that wasgoing on.
(03:55):
So when I was probably abouteight years old, I was referred
to an ENT and I always get akind of a kick out of this.
My first ENT, dr Loudon, and Ialways get a kind of a kick out
of this.
My first ENT, dr Loudon, which Ialways thought that having loud
in the name of an ENT it waskismet.
It was meant to be that hewould become an ENT.
So with the guidance of DrLoudon and the treatment of Dr
(04:16):
Loudon, that's when wediscovered that I actually had
claustrotoma, you know sogrowths in the ear, and it was
remarkably invasive in my case.
We knew that by the time theyfigured out that was going on,
that I would likely lose thehearing in my left ear.
So at that point I'm probablynine years old, 10 years old as
(04:36):
I'm going through this, you know, figuring out what closteotoma
is, which an eight or nine yearold, doesn't really know what
that is, talking with my doctorand I knew that the hearing loss
would come.
And sure enough, when I was 11,one day it just cut out.
I was at school and all of asudden I heard a little bit of
ringing in my ear and then itwas gone.
Blaise Delfino (04:59):
Wow, scary.
Bridget Dobyan (05:02):
Well, I knew it was coming, so props to my
medical team that they had, youknow, fully apprised me.
That was what would likelyhappen, you know.
And in between all of thatthere were multiple surgeries to
actually remove theclaustrotoma and I think it took
four surgeries in total.
At that point they were jokingthat they should just put a
zipper in behind my ear, make iteasier to access and keep
(05:23):
removing.
After they removed theclosteatoma, there was a lot of
cleanup work to do.
Certainly, there was scartissue, there was a lot of
problems, and at that point theyrealized that the closteatoma
had essentially eradicated thehearing bones, completely
destroyed the hearing bones inmy middle ear.
Blaise Delfino (05:41):
So, bridget, speaking of the hearing bones,
they are the smallest bones inthe body the malleus, incus and
stapes and they take thatacoustic energy and transfer it
into mechanical energy.
So those bones were compromised.
What was your journey like?
Adapting to hearing loss andthen eventually moving forward
with a bone anchored hearing aid?
Bridget Dobyan (06:03):
I don't remember it completely changing the way
I went about my day.
You know, we of course hadconversations with my teachers,
just so they were fully apprised.
It was actually a while beforeI went the Baja path.
At that point I'd been referredto a specialist down in the
Detroit area with the MichiganEar Institute, dr Jack Cartouche
, and he had developed aprosthetic bone, and so we
(06:26):
actually tried to do animplanted prosthetic bone to see
if we could, you know, gainthat function again.
And it did not take,unfortunately, you know.
So we tried a few things inbetween until we realized mostly
my parents realized that itjust wasn't going to work and so
we had to start talking abouthearing technology and based on,
(06:47):
you know, my closteotoma, thedamage that had been done to my
middle ear, at that point theprevailing opinion would be that
, the bone anchored, hearing aidwould be the way to go.
Blaise Delfino (07:03):
So how old were you when you?
Bridget Dobyan (07:03):
eventually moved forward with the Baha or the
bone anchored hearing aid.
Yeah, at that point.
I was a teenager, so it'd been afew years in between losing the
hearing, trying the prostheticimplant and then moving forward
on the hearing technology.
And there were a couple ofadditional surgeries that were
in there because, you know, justto make it even more fun.
Not only did I have theclaustrotoma issues, but I also
had holes in the balance canals,and so they were going in to
(07:25):
patch those because I haddizziness issues, which is not
uncommon, of course, for peoplewith hearing loss.
Blaise Delfino (07:33):
Bridget, this is and being that young and
experiencing the dizziness,experiencing the hearing loss,
especially unilaterally.
Bring us through the experienceyou had with those dizzy spells
being so young.
What was that like?
Bridget Dobyan (07:48):
That was probably the hardest part of
everything.
The hearing loss, as I recallit didn't actually bother me
that much.
I sort of adapted to it andfigured out I would turn my head
a lot, I knew where to sit,knew where to stand, knew how to
adapt to that.
But the dizziness, I mean thatwould kind of take you out of
nowhere and it took a whilebefore you actually take that
(08:10):
surgical route to patch thosecanals.
And you know, out of those onlytwo are easily accessible and
to access the third one wouldhave been a very invasive
surgery that goes in at actuallythe base of your skull to get
to that point.
So we opted not to do that.
So it was.
You know, try a low sodium dietfirst.
You know it's trying to gothrough these lifestyle changes
(08:32):
before you take that next stepto actually have the surgery.
So I think the dizziness wasarguably worse than the hearing
loss, for me at least.
Blaise Delfino (08:40):
And having gone through all of that for lack of
a better term so young in yourage allows you now, today, I'm
sure to really yes, see throughthe Hearing Matters podcast.
So they might be asking youknow what's the difference
(09:06):
between a hearing aid, cochlearimplant and a Baja?
Well, if we start with the mostfamiliar hearing aids, so these
are devices that you'll, youknow, wear in or behind your ear
and they amplify sound and thensend it through your natural
hearing pathway.
So your outer ear and middleear need to essentially be
(09:28):
intact, and this is very I'musing very elementary terms here
.
So think of, with hearing aids,it's like you're turning up the
volume around you, but it's alot more sophisticated than that
.
If someone has a more severe orprofound hearing loss,
especially if understandingspeech is tough, even with
powerful hearing aids, that'swhere cochlear implants come in,
(09:48):
and these are surgicallyimplanted devices that bypass
the damaged parts of the innerear and then send sound directly
to the hearing nerves.
And finally, we have the Baha,which is the bone anchored
hearing aid.
Now this technology worksdifferently.
So, instead of sending soundthrough the earaha, which is the
bone anchored hearing aid, nowthis technology works
differently.
So, instead of sending soundthrough the ear canal, it sends
(10:09):
vibrations through the bone tothe inner ear, and it's a great
option for patients with chronicear infections, conductive loss
or even single sided deafness.
So, bridget, did I get that allcorrect?
Bridget Dobyan (10:21):
You did, you did .
Yeah, I think that the Bajatechnology is absolutely
fascinating and it kind of blowspeople's minds when I talk
about it because it's a littlebizarre.
Right, it's a titanium screwthat's implanted in your skull.
So that's one surgery, and thenthere's, of course, a recovery
time.
Then they make sure that thescrew is actually solid in the
(10:43):
bone at that point, beforeyou're then fitted with the
processor, which is just, youknow, a simple small box.
It's about the size of yourthumbnail and that snaps onto
the titanium screw, and thenit's bone conduction at that
point.
So you essentially hear it inyour head.
I always describe it as sort ofthe tuning fork effect.
I think most of us in musicclass when we were kids, right,
(11:06):
your teacher would go around andwould ding the fork and then
put it to your head or put it toyour temple, and it's that same
type of sensation.
Blaise Delfino (11:14):
The evolution of technology.
Do you notice a difference interms of sound quality?
Of course we have.
You know it's vibrationsthrough the skull, but can you
personally tell a differencebetween when you were first fit
(11:35):
with bone anchored hearing aidsto today?
Bridget Dobyan (11:37):
Yes, I can, and I've actually only had two
processors in my entire time ofusing Abaha.
Two processors in my entiretime of using Abaha.
That's mostly my fault.
I pretty much rode that firstone until it was technically
obsolete.
When I went in for my upgrade afew years ago, my young
audiologist who was pretty freshout of school she looked at my
(11:58):
old processor and she actuallycouldn't figure out how to open
up the battery compartmentbecause it had changed so much.
Blaise Delfino (12:04):
Hey Bridget, can you show me how to do this
please?
Bridget Dobyan (12:09):
I briefly questioned whether I would stay
at that practice or not.
Now she's fantastic and that'sa testament to the product
itself.
But when I finally did upgrade,it was a significant difference
, from the sound quality to theconnectivity, to even the
battery life with it.
(12:31):
It was a significantimprovement.
Blaise Delfino (12:33):
And for consumers tuning in.
When you mention connectivity,what do you mean by that?
Bridget Dobyan (12:40):
So Bluetooth streaming I think again one of
the craziest features with theBaja, and Bluetooth is pretty
standard with hearing aids atthis point across the spectrum,
which is incredible becausewe're all kind of attached to
our phones for better or forworse.
But it's great that I canlisten to music, I can take
phone calls, I can listen to mypodcast and again it's in my
(13:02):
head because it's boneconduction.
So when I try to convey thatconcept to different people,
they're like wait a minute, youcan actually just hear it in
your head.
I said, yes, I'm taking thisphone call in my head, right?
Blaise Delfino (13:14):
Which, again, we live in the most socially
connected demographic.
So when we feel and hear thatconnection especially if you
present with a hearing loss, youfeel more immersed and
connected in your everydayconversations.
Now, bridget, we briefly sharedyour biography so impressive.
You are an attorney and youhave deep policy expertise
(13:38):
working at the state, federaland advocacy levels.
Living with hearing loss, itcan be deeply emotional at times
and isolating.
I mean we are absolutelyexperiencing a loneliness
epidemic.
Can you share how it shapedyour personal and professional
journey and really what it'smeant to you to thrive in such
(14:02):
high impact spaces despite thechallenges?
Dr?
Bridget Dobyan (14:06):
Yeah, absolutely .
I think it's really importantto note that everyone's
experience is vastly differentand in my experience, I was
incredibly blessed to havesupportive parents that had
great insurance, that got meinto the right professionals,
that built the medical teamaround me, the professional team
(14:28):
around me that sought out thebest of the best and were able
to do that and then made surethat even to this day, my mom
still gives me a call.
She says are you using yourBaja, are you wearing your Baja?
And so it's making sure that Ihad that support system around
me so that it just became normal.
It's just an everyday part ofmy life.
It wasn't this standout part ofmy personality and it wasn't a
(14:53):
struggle because it just becameso ingrained Get up, plug it in,
go to school, do your thing.
Blaise Delfino (15:00):
Bridget.
When you're a teenager at thispoint did your classmates have
difficulty understanding, maybe,what it was you were wearing?
How did you bridge the gapbetween educating your fellow
classmates on?
I have hearing loss and this isa bone anchored hearing aid
(15:21):
that I wear.
How did you educate yourclassmates on that and did you
experience any pushback?
If you're comfortable sharing,because I mean you're a teenager
and it's like you know,sometimes you know kids at that
age.
They don't really understand orcould be possible.
You know bullying or somethinglike that.
Did you experience any of that?
None, that's so good to hear.
Bridget Dobyan (15:40):
And again, I know that my experience is not
everyone's experience with aBaja.
A benefit of it is that youknow I'm wearing it right now
and you can't see it, even whenyour hair is up and you're
looking straight on.
You honestly have to be lookingat me directly from the side to
even notice it.
But I've never hidden it either.
I think that it's a really coolpiece of technology that helps
(16:03):
me fully function in my everydaylife.
So I've never had a problemwearing it.
Never had a problem explainingit.
So I've never had a problemwearing it.
Never had a problem explainingit.
Because, again, the concept ofa bone anchored hearing aid just
kind of blows people's minds.
They say that's actually verycool and for a brief moment you
almost see a glimmer that theywant one too.
Blaise Delfino (16:23):
Well, and today we have the bone anchored
headphones.
I mean, I don't have a pair.
I'd love to get a pair, butI've experienced what they sound
like and it's pretty, prettyamazing.
And you know if you've receiveda hearing evaluation, you know
part of best practice is testingbone conduction.
So if you currently wearhearing aids and you're getting
(16:45):
your annual hearing evaluation,chances are your hearing care
professional is testing boneconduction.
So you've experienced thatsensation of hearing, that tone
in your head.
Bridget, I asked you about, youknow, going through school with
a bone anchored hearing aid andthere was a statistic released
(17:06):
around 2017, 2018, 2019.
So I've got my basis coveredthere and I can link this study.
But untreated hearing loss, itwas said, is linked to over a
billion dollars of lost USearnings.
Now, that could bemiscommunication.
That could be education level.
You know, what advice would youpersonally give to young
(17:28):
professionals or students whopresent with hearing loss, who
might be questioning whetherthey can pursue these big goals
like law, like leadership, likeadvocacy?
Bridget Dobyan (17:40):
Oh, that you absolutely can, and you don't
have to make hearing loss yourentire personality or your
entire struggle.
This is a value add at the endof the day.
Blaise Delfino (17:53):
So you are the executive director of the
Hearing Industries Associationand you and I surprisingly first
met at the HIA annual meeting acouple of weeks ago in DC and
we got to talking and I was likeBridget, we have to have you on
the Hearing Matters podcast.
And first and foremost, I haveto congratulate you and Lindsay
(18:16):
and the entire team at HIA for afirst class event.
It was just unbelievable.
So, being the executivedirector of HIA, how has your
personal experience with hearingloss influenced the way that
you lead and advocate for betterhearing health policy?
Bridget Dobyan (18:34):
So when I came into this industry, I actually
didn't know that this entireworld existed, from the
professional associations to theconsumer advocacy groups all
the way up to the industry tradeassociation.
I met my predecessor for acoffee, just to meet her.
You know, a standard DCnetworking and you know by the
(18:57):
end of this conversation I justhappened to mention that I have
hearing loss and use a Baja, andshe couldn't believe it either.
So not knowing that all of thiswas out there and this entire
system and network that is socollaborative actually exists.
I think that shows us that wehave a lot more work to do to be
(19:19):
engaging people with hearingloss, their families and
professionals along the way.
I mean, there are times that Igo to different conferences and
conventions at the state leveland at the national level and
people still don't know exactlywho we are and what we do.
So we need to do a much betterjob at conveying that message.
Blaise Delfino (19:40):
Again, as I previously stated, we are the
most socially connecteddemographic to ever exist.
And, bridget, a couple of weeksago I gave a presentation on
hearing protection and, ofcourse, hearing loss.
And weeks ago I gave apresentation on hearing
protection and, of course,hearing loss and the importance
of protecting your hearing, andet cetera, et cetera.
And I asked the crowd.
I said, okay, for those of youwho saw the dentist this year
(20:01):
and got your teeth clean, raiseyour hand.
Pretty much everyone raisedtheir hand.
That was good to see.
And then I asked about vision.
Same thing.
I asked about hearing.
There was like two or threepeople that raised their hand
who had seen or gotten an annualhearing evaluation and that to
me was like we have so much morework to do and we have such an
(20:22):
opportunity to raise awarenessof hearing health care.
Bridget, a conversation thatyou and I had a couple of days
ago was there's 44 millionAmericans who present with
hearing loss on an audiogram andthen there's another 26 million
Americans who present withdifficulty in noisy situations
but present with normal hearingon an audiogram.
(20:44):
And when we talk about accessto hearing health care, in my
professional opinion, there isnot enough hearing care
professionals in the country toserve all of these individuals.
Is this a conversation that HIAis having to raise awareness
not only of the technology andthe importance of visiting a
hearing health care, but alsoencouraging students to get into
(21:07):
the field?
Bridget Dobyan (21:08):
Yeah, this is a conversation that, across the
hearing health space, everyone'shaving and everyone's having
together, because it impacts allof us.
Again, from the professionalperspective, from the consumer
perspective certainly, access orcoverage of hearing health care
(21:34):
from both a professionalservice perspective as well as
from devices we need to makesure that consumers actually
have professionals that they canreach, professionals that they
can see in their communities.
So this is certainly somethingthat we all are working on
together.
Blaise Delfino (21:45):
Excellent, Bridget.
You work closely withpolicymakers and stakeholders
really across the country.
How do you use your own storywhen raising awareness at that
level and do you find that itresonates with decision makers?
Bridget Dobyan (22:02):
I do, I do.
There is still lingering stigmaaround hearing loss and around
hearing aids, and so you know,with the devices themselves, a
big part of what HIA has doneand continues to do is making
sure that there are accuraterepresentations of hearing
technology.
We know that hearing tech hasbeen in the news a lot more, and
usually the pictures that mediasources are using they don't
(22:26):
actually reflect what's outthere on the market today.
Blaise Delfino (22:29):
What do you mean , bridget, the big beige banana
hearing aids are?
They're not aestheticallypleasing, yeah.
Bridget Dobyan (22:35):
Maybe some people have an affinity for them
, but it's.
I mean, there's something forevery, every style, every choice
.
You know the different formfactors of hearing devices, so
there's the accuraterepresentation piece of this
within the media.
But then there's alsoleveraging my personal story,
which I mean before this.
I'm not out there just tellingpeople I have hearing loss.
(22:56):
I just go about my day and Iadapt and I do what I need to do
.
But in this position I feellike I have a really unique
opportunity, being stillrelatively young and being able
to show a different face ofhearing loss, where I haven't
experienced the stigma, where Ihave seen that there is this
overall, you know, well-beingand improved quality of life.
(23:18):
And again, the tech is justvery cool.
Blaise Delfino (23:22):
Yes, it's not only cool but it's advancing and
innovation is happening at sucha rapid pace, especially as we
lean into artificialintelligence.
Now, bridget, you had mentionedcampaigns and misrepresentation
, with media outlets usingphotos of old hearing technology
(23:44):
and the styles.
Today they're still behind theear hearing aids, they're still
full shell in the ear hearingaids, but we now have different
color options.
Right, and we were talking acouple of days ago and, of
course, years ago.
About six years ago, hia firstinitiated their Hear Well, stay
(24:05):
Vital campaign.
Today it is now referred to asthe Hear Well campaign.
I will speak as a formerprivate practice owner when this
campaign was launched and theassets were shared with hearing
care professionals, because Idon't want to steal the thunder
here, but we use the assets thatyour team provided to the
(24:29):
entire nation to use duringBetter Hearing Month and beyond.
So, the Hear Well campaign ithas absolutely been a
cornerstone message for HIA.
How has the campaign evolvedover the years?
Bridget Dobyan (24:45):
Yeah, so the campaign, as you mentioned Blaze
started in 2019.
And it was really inanticipation of, and in advance
of, the new OTC over-the-counterhearing aid rule, and there
were concerns that consumerswould be confused with this
entirely new channel coming intothe market and what it meant.
(25:06):
How do you assess your hearingloss?
What are the different optionsthat are available for treatment
?
Even rolling it all the wayback to the most simple of
concepts, which is see a hearingprofessional first, rule out
any underlying medicalconditions or causes for the
hearing loss, perhaps it'ssomething just as simple as
cleaning the earwax out of yourear and you actually don't need
(25:28):
any type of hearing losstreatment at that point.
So the campaign was developedin its early stages with HLAA,
which is the Consumer AdvocacyGroup, the Hearing Loss
Association of America, and then, along with our professional
partners, the AudiologyProfessional Associations, aaa,
ada, asha, the dispensers withthe International Hearing
(25:50):
Society and so many more of ourpartners, to really develop this
consensus resource that wouldprovide those fundamental
questions that deal with hearingloss what is an audiologist,
what is a hearing aid specialist, what is an ENT, and what are
the different types of treatmentoptions available from there?
Blaise Delfino (26:09):
I love it and raising awareness really of what
an audiologist and a hearingcare professional is, because my
father is an audiologist and Ijust mentioned this in a recent
episode of there would beindividuals who asked him oh,
you're an audiologist, youchange out car radios.
Like how far, bridget, we'vecome.
But I love how, in response toOTC or over-the-counter hearing
(26:34):
aids, which again increasesaccess, increases accessibility
to better hearing, of course, ifthat is the route you as a
consumer feel as though is thebest route for you, absolutely
consult with a hearing careprofessional first to rule out
any possible etiologies.
(26:55):
Now, bridget, this yearspecifically it is May we are
celebrating Better Hearing Month.
What makes this year's focusespecially relevant for
consumers and hearing careprofessionals as it relates to
the Hear Well campaign?
Bridget Dobyan (27:10):
So, blaise, what I'm really excited about with
Better Hearing Month this yearis it is serving as the launch
for the next iteration of HIA'sPSA campaign and PSAs.
We've built these also since2019, and it's been incredible
the earned media value of thiscampaign.
And what's unique about PSAs isthat it's not device focused,
(27:34):
it's not technology focused.
It's a public healthannouncement, essentially, and
it focuses on the importance ofaddressing your hearing loss and
seeing a hearing professional.
That is the message at the endof each one of these PSA spots,
and what we found with our PSAcampaign is that positive works,
(27:54):
positive messaging, funmessaging.
We saw that with the lastversion of the campaign, which
was Happy Dance.
In two years of running thatcampaign, it resulted in over
$23 million of earned media justwithin that campaign.
Blaise Delfino (28:11):
Wow, $23 million of earned media, bridget, that
is incredible.
Bridget Dobyan (28:18):
And it's all around the importance of seeing
a professional and addressingyour hearing loss.
It's a great message, onethat's easy to understand, and
so, with this next version,which we have very creatively
termed Happy Dance 2.0, tocontinue that positive messaging
, we got a little weird and wegot fun and the best part with
(28:39):
these video spots.
We have seven 30 second spotsand we have six 15 second spots
with this messaging and alldifferent videos and imagery.
There's a puppy in one of them.
We have found that people.
Blaise Delfino (28:53):
Everyone loves puppies.
Bridget Dobyan (28:54):
Right.
People love puppies, so thesewill all be available on the
hearingorg website for all ofour partners to utilize as well,
not just within the PSA space.
Blaise Delfino (29:05):
So again, that is hearingorg and any hearing
care professional.
Bridget can download theseassets and then reuse them on
their own clinic websites andsocial media.
Bridget Dobyan (29:18):
Absolutely so.
Hearingorg.
It's an unbranded resource, sowe not only have the PSA videos,
but we have an additional videolibrary that has testimonials
from hearing care professionals,from consumers themselves.
We have a veteran-focused videoseries as well.
(29:38):
We have social media graphics,tiles, pretty much everything
you can think about.
It's all completely free to use, downloadable and you can
utilize it in your own practiceresources.
Blaise Delfino (29:50):
And Bridget, being that we are in Better
Hearing Month, our hearing careprofessionals can use these
assets throughout the year, andI'm thinking for those hearing
care professionals who say, oh,I don't really like social media
, I don't like to be on there,that's totally fine.
Use these assets and you canprogram them into your social
(30:12):
media and, of course, raiseawareness of better hearing.
So thank you and HIA forintroducing these assets,
because not every hearing careprofessional is comfortable
behind the camera.
They might want to be behindthe scenes, and these assets
allows you to raise awarenesswhile also feeling more
(30:32):
comfortable if you're notcomfortable posting on social
media.
Now, bridget, my last questionfor the day.
First of all, love your passion.
Thank you so much for all thatyou do for the industry.
How do you hope hearing careprofessionals and consumers will
use the PSA assets to sparkmore conversations around
(30:52):
hearing health?
Bridget Dobyan (30:54):
Thank you Within that question hit the nail on
the head.
It's about sparking theconversation.
We know that from previousversions of the market track
research study that HIA sponsorsand that comes out about every
two to three years, we know thata lot of consumers take that
step forward based on arecommendation from a
(31:15):
professional which makes sense,but also from friends and family
.
So even if you yourself don'thave hearing loss or don't wear
hearing aids or use hearing aids, you can still share these
messages with friends and family.
And even if social media isn'tnecessarily your jam, you can
also download.
(31:35):
We have postcard resources thathave you know, funny quips and
clips that again make theconversation around hearing
health much more engaging.
Right, it continues tode-stigmatize the issue.
It makes it just a part of youroverall health and wellbeing
the issue.
Blaise Delfino (31:54):
It makes it just a part of your overall health
and well-being.
Bridget, thank you so much, foryou know not only sharing your
journey, but your heart behindthe work that you're doing.
So thank you so much forjoining us on the Hearing
Matters podcast today.
Bridget Dobyan (32:04):
Thanks so much for those listening.
Blaise Delfino (32:06):
whether you are a hearing care professional,
someone with hearing loss orsimply someone who cares about
the health and vitality of yourloved ones, now is absolutely
the time to lean in.
The Hear Well campaign is notjust a slogan.
It truly is a movement, andit's one that reminds us that
hearing health is essential toliving fully, aging well and
(32:30):
staying connected to whatmatters most.
So here is our challenge to you, the listener Visit hearingorg,
download the campaign assets,share them on your social media
channels, bring them into yourclinics, conversations and
communities.
Use your voice to amplify themessage, because when more
people hear well, more peoplethrive.
(32:51):
Let's keep raising the volumeof hearing health together.
And again, bridget, thank youso much for joining us on the
Hearing Matters podcast.
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