Summary
In recognition of National Falls Prevention Awareness Month, Starkey is highlighting the critical link between hearing loss and increased fall risk and how advanced hearing technology can play a life-saving role.
Key takeaways:
- Starkey’s built-in balance assessment feature, based on the CDC’s STEADI initiative, screens gait, strength, and balance directly through the hearing aid.
- By combining motion sensors, AI, and fall detection, the devices expand beyond amplification to support overall health and independence.
- Starkey positions hearing aids as proactive wellness tools that address both fall risk and cognitive decline in older adults.
In recognition of National Falls Prevention Awareness Month, Starkey is highlighting the critical link between hearing loss and increased fall risk and how advanced hearing technology can play a life-saving role.
Starkey has expanded what hearing aids can do with what the company says is the world’s first balance assessment feature embedded directly into the device.
“By embedding motion sensors and AI into our hearing aids, we’ve developed tools that extend well beyond traditional amplification,” says Sara Burdak, AuD, chief audiology officer and executive vice president of product strategy at Starkey. “These devices can assess balance, detect falls, and provide meaningful data that supports overall health. Because hearing loss is linked to both increased fall risk and accelerated cognitive decline, addressing these factors through advanced hearing technology allows clinicians to play a more proactive role in safeguarding patients’ long-term health and independence.”
The balance assessment feature is based on the CDC’s STEADI (Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths & Injuries) initiative. It includes a 12-question screening and functional assessments of gait, strength, and balance, all administered through the hearing aid. This innovation comes alongside Starkey’s fall detection technology, pioneered to help address one of the most pressing health risks facing older adults today.
“Our goal has always been to transform hearing aids into health and wellness devices,” Burdak says. “With these innovations, we can help identify fall risk early, long before an emergency room visit.”
To learn more about Starkey’s falls prevention innovations, you can check out this video featuring Justin Burwinkel, senior research audiologist at Starkey.
