In this project, Dr Kate Slade (Lancaster University), aims to develop hearing tests that show how much listening effort people with hearing loss must make when listening in real life situations. Project start date: September 2026 Project end date: September 2027 About the project One of the most common difficulties experienced by older adults with hearing loss is that listening in noisy or social environments is...
No actionable change — this is a newly funded tool-development project with no validated measures or results yet.
Validated real-world measures of listening effort and fatigue could fill a major gap in audiological assessment, enabling more person-centred rehabilitation for older adults.
- 01RNID-funded project running Sept 2026–2027 at Lancaster University.
- 02Led by Dr Kate Slade; focuses on older adults with hearing loss in real-world settings.
- 03Aims to develop practical tests capturing listening effort and fatigue — not currently standard in clinical practice.
- 04Current hearing tests largely measure audibility, not the cognitive cost of listening.
- 05Outputs may eventually support better hearing-aid fitting and rehabilitation planning.
Standard hearing tests do not adequately capture listening effort and fatigue in real-world conditions.
opinionpartially supported