Ida Institute partners with National Acoustic Laboratories to strengthen evidence-base for person-centered care

The Ida Institute has announced a new collaboration with the National Acoustic Laboratories (NAL), the research division of Hearing Australia. This is the non-profit institute’s first formal collaboration with an organization exclusively focused on research and represents a significant milestone for the entire Ida community.  

“We are truly excited to welcome NAL to the Ida family,” says Ida Institute Managing Director Lise Lotte Bundesen. “NAL brings remarkable expertise in driving evidence-based innovation in hearing health. With NAL on board, we envision a variety of research-driven projects assembling stakeholders from across the Ida community, from patient and professional organizations to academia.”

Dr Melanie Ferguson, Head of Audiological Science at NAL says “We are delighted to collaborate with the Ida Institute, particularly as the first research organization to do so. The Ida Institute is world-renowned for its work in developing and promoting patient-centred approaches to improve clinical practices in audiology, while NAL is world-renowned for research and innovation focused on preventing avoidable hearing loss and helping those with hearing difficulties.”

World-class scientific contribution

NAL’s research is published in leading scientific journals. Their influential contributions to knowledge and clinical practice include the ‘NAL Prescriptions’, which are the most widely used methods to prescribe hearing aids worldwide, the COSI method, used for evaluating the success of hearing rehabilitation. NAL also created LOCHI, a longitudinal study evaluating the lifelong benefit of early intervention with hearing aids and cochlear implants for newborns with hearing loss.

More recently, NAL is focussed on understanding and developing evidence for the benefit of connected health and remote hearing services. They are pioneering the use of behavioural economics to guide hearing health decision-making and providing timely evidence-based innovations such as recommendations for helping hearing aid wearers better understand those wearing face masks.

With the help of volunteer participants from the general public, approximately 40 NAL researchers carry out work within four departments:

• Audiological Science conducts innovative research to improve hearing health and quality of life across the lifespan.
• Behavioural Sciences uses psychology and other sciences to investigate and implement campaigns to promote hearing health.
• Communication Science investigates the efficacy of early intervention and other factors influencing children’s communication and psychosocial outcomes.
• Signal Processing focuses on research and development of innovative technologies arising from and leading to new scientific discoveries.

“This collaboration will help us advance NAL’s mission to conduct world-leading hearing research and innovation to improve the hearing health and transform the lives of people with hearing difficulties,” says Dr Brent Edwards, NAL Director. “We are excited at the prospect that together, we can do great things to enhance the patient-centred evidence-base that will impact the lives of many people.” 

The collaboration is the latest addition to the Ida Institute’s partnership network, which includes patient and professional organizations and universities from around the world.