Establishing eligibility criteria for the provision of hearing aids in the Hearing Services Program

The current criteria of hearing sensitivity for assessing who should be fit with hearing aids is a poor predictor of hearing aid use and benefit, therefore the audiogram alone is unlikely to be the best measure to identify who should get hearing aids in terms of patient benefit. Instead, eligibility criteria that includes other measures such as self-reported hearing disability, readiness to wear hearing aids, expectations, and individual needs has the potential to better identify those who would benefit from and use hearing aids in the HSP, and thereby improve hearing outcomes from the program.

To develop a robust, evidence-based, and clinically practicable method of determining which older adults should be fit with hearing aids.