Betterton Hearing Aid Center
I hear, therefore, exist.
We continue to talk about the clinics where Ufonda’s wards are treated. In 2015, our partner was Betterton, a network of hearing aids. The company’s specialists select and install modern hearing aids for children with sensorineural hearing loss. The fund, in turn, helps parents of wards to raise funds for the purchase of these devices.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, every tenth person in Ukraine suffers from hearing impairment - as a result of injury, illness or congenital malformations. It is especially difficult for those who faced this scourge at an early age. The weaker the child’s hearing, the worse the conditions for speech development, knowledge of the world, social integration. It is difficult for children diagnosed with deafness to fit into a group of peers, to master the school program, to navigate in the environment. They need the support of teachers and parents, quality medical care. It is important that it is delivered on time. Even if the disease cannot be stopped, the effects of hearing loss can be at least minimized.
With the help of modern digital devices, deaf and even deaf children from birth are able to perceive sounds. Such children can gain self-confidence, successful self-realization. However, many families are unable to purchase hearing aids. While devices issued at the expense of budget funds are often not suitable for a child or are of poor quality.
Last year, Ufond launched a program to help children with sensorineural hearing loss. We raise funds for modern digital hearing aids for our wards. Betterton specialists help to select and install the devices. This is a network of hearing centers in five cities of Ukraine: Kiev, Lviv, Kremenchug, Kryvyi Rih, Bila Tserkva. Fifteen-year-old Kristina Kalytyuk has
already received help under the programfrom Dnepropetrovsk and one-year-old Zlata Saenko from Krivoy Rog. Fundraising for a digital hearing aid for six-year- old Nastya Dubuk has been started http://ufond.ua/90 from the Volyn region.
The procedure for selecting hearing aids is not quick and easy: doctors work with young patients for a long time. They carry out complex diagnostics of hearing, adjust devices, make individual ear casts and inserts.
Hearing center specialists regularly undergo advanced training and training with Betterton’s American partners, Starkey Hearing Technologies (Starkey Hearing Technologies, USA). The corporation is recognized as a world leader in the hearing industry. Betterton is a distributor of hearing aids for this brand.
Now, thanks to our readers, children from low-income families will be able to use these modern devices.