A Stone opticians’ innovative hearing aids are helping their 76-year-old patient stay active during lockdown.
76-year-old Elaine Kimber has, for the past year, been using Livio AI hearing aids which help to track your brain and health, which have been supplied by Peter Bowers Optometrist on the Stone High Street, in partnership with Amplify Hearing.
The state-of-the-art hearing aids, Livio AI from Starkey, utilise integrated sensors and artificial intelligence to track physical activity and health. The hearing aids monitor the wearer’s body and brain health, including tracking steps to help keep you physically active, measuring active listening and social engagement to help reduce cognitive decline, detecting falls to support independent living, and even translating foreign languages in real-time.
However, Elaine’s smartphone wasn’t able to connect with the smartphone app, Thrive Hearing, which is required to track the information. Instead of that holding her back, the 76-year-old bought a high-end iPhone to make use of the features, such as the health tracker in particular, which encourages her to remain active and get out of the house where she lives alone.
Elaine said: “I’m a great reader, I could read a book forever, but it’s really very bad for me to sit in one spot all day. But if my app tells me that I haven’t had enough steps in the past couple of days, I can force myself to get out and walk.
“The entertaining thing about walking with them in is that I can also listen to podcasts or the radio through them. Although I didn’t understand it when I initially got them, my audiologist showed me its capabilities and, since then, I’ve found out all these magic things they can do.
“They’re also great because so many people moan about their regular hearing aids that their batteries are always running out, but mine are rechargeable so I don’t have to worry about that.”
Elaine decided to take more care of her health after becoming a widow for the second time in 2018 and, as she volunteers at the Stone Alzheimer’s drop-in club, knows full well the effect an inactive mind can have.
She continued: “The drop-in clubs are about companionship, talking to the members and carers over coffee, and we sometimes play games, hire entertainers and go on outings. People say it’s an absolute lifesaver, and it’s very rewarding for us to do it as well.
“But being involved with them has made me very aware that I don’t want to let my brain go earlier than it needs to. They say that loss of hearing leaves you isolated and can be a contributing factor to dementia as your brain is inactive, so that was the main reason why I got hearing aids.
“I just didn’t want to become a difficult old woman, really. But I’m really glad I have these hearing aids because now I have my phone, I can WhatsApp my nieces and we send each other photos or a joke here and there, and we’ve all been quite close over the past year which has been really nice.
“More than anything though, they’ve helped my hearing. I realise now with people wearing masks how much I relied on lip reading, so they’re definitely helping and I can’t recommend them enough.”
Although she has now relocated to Chester, Elaine still plans to return to Stone once restrictions are lifted, not only to maintain her links with the drop-in club, but also return to Peter Bowers and her audiologist Aamir Khan, who first supplied her hearing aids. Although Aamir fits many people of Elaine’s generation, he admits there are very few who match her enthusiasm for embracing new technology.
He said: “I’ve never had a patient who has bought a smartphone just so she could connect her hearing aids to it, so to be honest I feel quite proud of how Elaine has taken to it.
“Obviously this is a step-by-step procedure and I think that’s the important thing to remember- no one will get this straight away. But by taking things slow and doing the simple things, like Elaine did, more people will be able to see the benefits, especially at a time like this.
“Elaine has gone from being somewhat of a technophobe in terms of not having a mobile, to someone who is making use of every single feature the technology has to offer.
“Most importantly, though, her hearing is much improved as the hearing aids use artificial intelligence to optimise hearing. This, of course, can have an impact on your overall health and I think this has become even more important in a time of widespread isolation.”
Despite lockdown restrictions, eye examinations and hearing check-ups are still available to patients on an appointment-only basis. All team members at Peter Bowers Optometrist are equipped with full PPE and regular sanitation procedures are in place to ensure a safe environment.
For more information, or to book an appointment, call the team on 01785 815937.
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