Romanian Hearing Aid Project to Set Up Pediatric Testing Center

Tricia Towle is spearheading a drive to supply hearing aids and hearing care in Romania.

After working in Romania for two years on the Romanian Hearing Project (see October 2003 HR News, p 60), Tricia Towle, MS, has launched “Phase 2” of the Project in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The Center for Early Detection of Hearing Loss at the Pediatric Hospital Clinic opened in October. Working alongside two pediatric ENT physicians, this is the first site in Cluj to offer otoacoustic emission testing, VRA testing in a soundproof booth, and ABR/BERA testing for children of all ages, according to Towle. She believes that it is the only such site in Transylvania—and possibly in all of Romania.

The first phase of the Romanian Hearing Project involved providing amplification to those who would not be able to afford the cost of hearing aids, an ongoing project. The hearing aids were donated to the project from hearing aid manufacturers, including Qualitone, Starkey Laboratories, Siemens Hearing Instruments, Phonak, Rexton, Beltone Electronics, Unitron Hearing, Oticon, Interton, and Widex. Pehratek, Interacoustics, and Starkey UK have also lent support to the project.

Firutza was fitted by the Romanian Hearing Project with Widex hearing aids.

Beneficiaries of the Project included Firutza, a young girl who suffers from hearing loss. She was recently provided with a donated pair of Widex Senso hearing aids—her first set of hearing aids. “She was dancing around mimicking our voices after I fitted her!” Towle says. “She has hardly any recognizable speech right now, but we hope that, with amplification, she will be able to catch up. At the Center for Early Detection, we will hope to catch kids like her at a much earlier age.”

Towle reports that Romania is a country where hearing aid companies are now starting to prosper, but there us a great need for appropriate diagnostics and skilled dispensing professionals. “Doctors do their own hearing testing, or train nurses, and the highest training in the capital city, Bucharest, goes as far as an audio-prothestist,” Towle says. “So, I assume there are no audiologists here.”

For more information on the Romanian Hearing Project contact Tricia Towle, MS, at ttowle07@cs.com.