With People In Mind

“Good hearing solutions start out with the person’s hopes, their realities and relationships to each other - this is what we are charged with understanding.”

Today’s hearing instruments have already made a dramatic difference to the hearing and communication abilities of many people.

Meeting user needs

But meeting user needs goes much deeper than just setting the technological standard. It requires a concerted effort to understand human hearing in all its facets, and a wholehearted attempt to reduce the gap between normal and assisted hearing. Just as importantly, it means encouraging the widespread use and acceptability of hearing improvement products. In its recent report, the National Council on the Aging (NCOA) stated that while more than 10 million middle-aged Americans between the ages of 45 and 64 have a hearing loss, six out of seven of these people do not use hearing instruments. Nor do approximately three out of five older Americans with hearing loss. Yet the consequences of delayed or absent treatment can be devastating.

Products that reflect actual human needs

The NCOA found that compared to older, hearing-impaired people who use hearing aids, those who do not use hearing aids are more likely to report sadness and depression; worry and anxiety; paranoia; less social activity; emotional turmoil and insecurity. These differences remained when controlling for other factors such as the individual’s age, gender, and income. On the other hand, seniors whose hearing loss is treated (i.e. they receive a hearing instrument) often report benefits that include better relationships with their families; better feelings about themselves; improved mental health; greater independence and security.

To move toward this goal of widespread hearing instrument use, GN ReSound recognizes that its present and future success builds upon a long-standing, close connection with the wearers of our hearing solutions, enabling us to fine-tune our products to reflect actual human needs and interactions.

We rely on in-depth knowledge

We like to say we “keep people in mind”. Primarily, this means being close to the hearing professional and his or her customer. We rely on in-depth knowledge of what it is really like to experience hearing difficulties at all levels. This insight, as well as that won from clinical research and examination of dispensing processes, puts the products of tomorrow on the drawing boards of today.

Keeping people in mind also means maintaining close contact with associations, scientists and academics from many walks of life - wherever benefits and insights can be turned into customer advantage.

GN ReSound pays attention

GN ReSound understands, too, that a person’s hearing difficulties are not his or hers alone. Instead, there is an impact on family, friends and employment that can have serious consequences for all. And we remember that people are different - our lives are a mix of quite different environments and conditions. So a feature of little importance to one person may be a decisive factor to someone else. Answering such varying needs requires great flexibility in our products as well as sufficient resources to do the job properly for each specific requirement.

At the same time, GN ReSound pays attention to the less obvious, but no less important, aspects of owning hearing instruments. We know that even the smallest difficulties encountered when operating or caring for a product can mean the difference between a satisfied or an unsatisfied customer. Or between a hearing instrument that is still worn a year after purchase and one that is not.

Company-wide, our emphasis is on pioneering hearing solutions that make a real difference in the lives of people with hearing loss and their families. That means designing our products and services to closely fit requirements for performance, comfort, appearance, ease of operation and maintenance.