Ten Reasons to Not Wait on Getting a Cochlear Implant (Once a Patient is a Candidate)

Prerecorded presentation available to view on-demand on April 17, 2021

This on-demand program is offered for FREE to all AAA 2021 Virtual Conference registrants and AAA 2021 All-Inclusive Webinar Package subscribers.  Please allow one business day after registering for the AAA 2021 Virtual Conference to receive access to activate your registration.

Presenters:  Donna Sorkin, MA and Meredith Holcomb, AuD

Duration: 1 hour

CEUs: 0.1 AAA/Tier 1

Instructional Level: Intermediate

Program Focus: Knowledge

Learning Outcomes: Upon completion, each participant in the eAudiology Web Seminar will be able to:

1. Describe how hearing loss affects quality of life
2. Review medical indications associated with dementia
3. Suggest counseling tools to aid patients in the CI decision-making process

Description: Adult cochlear implant (CI) candidates are often reluctant, for various reasons, to move forward quickly with CI surgery after it has been determined that they are indeed a candidate. We will discuss evidence-based research and provide medical and audiological case studies to explain why waiting to move forward with surgery might be adverse for a patient. Practical talking points will also be described to aid the clinician in counseling patients on this topic.

Donna Sorkin MA, Executive Director, American Cochlear Implant Alliance

Donna Sorkin is executive of the American Cochlear Implant Alliance, a national organization devoted to expanding access to cochlear implantation for all who may benefit. She has had a long career in advocacy for people with hearing loss at for-profit and non-profit entities.  She was previously executive director of two US organizations: Hearing Loss Association of America (an organization for adults) and Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (with a focus on children). Ms. Sorkin served for 11 years as Vice President, Consumer Affairs at Cochlear Americas where she led public policy initiatives and other activities aimed at the broad life needs of cochlear implant users including insurance coverage and reimbursement, habilitation for children and adults, and educational needs of children with cochlear implants. She has served on federal, corporate and university boards including the U.S. Access Board (as a Presidential appointee) and the National Institute on Deafness (National Institutes of Health) Advisory Board. She currently serves on the Advisory Board of Gallaudet University. She holds a Masters in Urban Planning and Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Meredith Holcomb AuD, Chair, American Cochlear Implant Alliance and Director, Hearing Implant Program, University of Miami

Meredith Holcomb, AuD, CCC-A joined the University of Miami Department of Otolaryngology in June 2019 as Assistant Professor and the Director of the Hearing Implant Program. She received her Doctorate of Audiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2006. Dr. Holcomb spent the first 13 years of her career at the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Holcomb is the current Chair of the American Cochlear Implant Alliance Board of Directors and she serves on the Joint Committee for Infant Hearing. She is a member of the Audiology Advisory Council for Advanced Bionics and Med El, a faculty member for the Institute for Cochlear Implant Training Advanced Audiology Course and serves as a consultant for Cochlear Corporation, ASHA, and Audiology Online. Dr. Holcomb demonstrates a strong commitment to education, mentorship, and clinical research. She has published and presented extensively on the topics of cochlear implantation, CI candidacy, CI access and clinical efficiency. 

Financial and non-financial disclosures: Employed by University of Miami Hearing Implant Program; Consultant to: MED-EL, Cochlear Americas, Advanced Bionics, Institute for Cochlear Implant Training