Sight + Sound, Spring 2026
The UPMC Department of Audiology put together an online, user-friendly resource to help adults 18 and older find information and hearing aids to best meet their needs. Called clEARdashboard, for Consumer Led Evidence – Amplification Resource Dashboard, it allows people to learn about hearing aid styles and features and compare those features and performance across Over-the-Counter hearing aids.
clEARdashboard’s research team – comprised of hearing specialists, hearing scientists, and computer experts in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh and with the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery who are not employed by hearing aid manufacturers – wrote a proposal to the Hearst Foundation. The work they proposed has been completed; now the work continues to the next stages of the project, which includes lab-based measures that can predict real world performance. This will be used to assess devices.
Funding from the Hearst Foundation went to developing the website and the purchase of over-the-counter hearing aids to be able to put together clEARdashboard. “The support of the Hearst Foundation allowed our team the time and resources to create a consumer-friendly resource that supports the navigation of selecting over-the-counter hearing aids,” said Catherine V. Palmer, PhD, Director, UPMC Audiology.
