Determine the Effect on Cognitive Impairment Measures by Providing Hearing-Assistance to Skilled Nursing Facility Residents

Determine the Effect on Cognitive Impairment Measures by Providing Hearing-Assistance to Skilled Nursing Facility Residents

The purpose of the study is to see if a commercially available hearing assistance device called the PockeTalker has an effect on performance on cognitive (memory and thinking) tests among skilled nursing facility residents.

Investigators are asking residents to perform cognitive tests with and without hearing assistance equipment known as PockeTalkers. This study will be conducted at one urban Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) with the goal of understanding the extent to which hearing impairment impacts commonly used cognitive impairment measures for clinical assessment. Cognitive performance will be measured, cerumen occlusion, and perceived hearing.

Inclusion Criteria:

• admitted to unit of intervention
• ability to communicate and follow simple commands
• capacity to consent assessed with standard questions used to assess capacity or having a surrogate who can provide consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• not on the unit of intervention
• obtunded or comatose state
• inability to communicate verbally
• inability to consent and without surrogate
• non-English speaking