A few years ago, during the early days of the Get In The Hearing Loop campaign, the HLAA-Santa Barbara Chapter was meeting in the library at Wood Glen Hall Retirement Community. At that time, a new hearing loop business was just getting started in the Central Coast area; the owner offered to loop the library at a modest cost in order to publicize the benefits of hearing loop technology. Because hearing loss affects around half of the residents in the retirement community, Wood Glen Hall and the Santa Barbara Chapter agreed to split the cost of the loop installation including an upgraded sound system.
After completion, an informational meeting was held for residents, members of the community, audiologists, and other hearing loss professionals. Juliëtte Sterkens, AuD, the HLAA National Hearing Loop Advocate, presented comprehensive information on the positive benefits of looping technology. A follow-up day for Wood Glen Hall residents included free hearing screenings by an audiologist and, for those who wore hearing aids, a check to see if their devices had the telecoil (t-coil) feature to allow them to access the new loop
Today, many residents of the retirement community go to their library to attend travel slideshows, informational lectures and presentations, musical recitals, concerts and senior classes offered by Santa Barbara City College. At times when structured activities are not scheduled, it is a popular venue for watching television with friends.
Back in 2012, Wood Glen Hall became the first place to install a loop in Santa Barbara. Now there are many theatres, churches, public spaces and audiology offices that offer the convenience of a hearing loop to their patrons. And because of the affordable cost in a small private space and ease of use, there are a number of installations in private homes to
Holly Walling, Activity Director at Wood Glen Hall, said that newer residents may need a bit of practice in order to remember that they must switch to the t-coil setting in their hearing aids. Once residents are more experienced, they are very positive about how much it enhances their listening experience
“The T-Coil is marvelous. It greatly improves the clarity of sound which for me is more important than constantly increasing the volume.” – Alice
“For me, the loop is the audio equivalent of high-definition images. It’s as if I was wearing headphones – the sound goes directly into my ears! The loop makes everything more enjoyable than it would be without it.” – Jack
Originally Published in The Hearing Loss Californian Spring 2019.
