Barbara Weinstein author, speaker, and expert in hearing loss in older adults joins the Dr. Darrow Podcast!

Dr. Weinstein is a professor of audiology at Cuny University in New York. She is also an author of several books, the most recent being Geriatric Audiology. Dr. Weinstein also is both a national and international speaker on a variety of topics ranging from social isolation and hearing loss in the elderly to senile dementia and hearing loss. Dr. Weinstein is a fellow of both the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the American Academy of Audiology. She is also the recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award for the New York State Speech Language Hearing Association.

Dr. Weinstein developed the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly and its companion version, the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults. This is the most widely used scale to screen adults and older adults for hearing loss as well as to measure outcomes. She is the recipient of local, state, and federal grants in excess of $750,000 on aging, workforce education, counseling older adults, and outreach.

In this episode we discuss:
1. Why isolation is one of the biggest hurdles in the field of hearing healthcare.
2. Why it is not the number of relationships you have but rather the quality of those relationships.
3. How does Dr. Weinsteins theory on loneliness and isolation play a role in cognitive decline.
4. What is link and theory between isolation and risk of dementia.
5. What are Dr. Weinsteins thoughts on the future of hearing healthcare.