11/13/2025
We are proud to celebrate our very own Susan D. Emmett, M.D., MPH, professor of otolaryngology and epidemiology and director of the UAMS Center for Hearing Health Access, for receiving a $39,552 Chancellor’s Circle grant for the Center for Hearing Health Access project, “Developing a Community-Informed Framework to Improve Access to Low-Cost Hearing Devices in Rural Arkansas.”
This work focuses on improving access to affordable over-the-counter hearing devices for older adults in rural, underserved communities. Hearing devices can help lower the risk or severity of cognitive decline, depression, and falls, leading to a better quality of life and potentially lower health care costs. Yet fewer than one in three older adults in the U.S. with hearing loss who could benefit from hearing devices have ever used them, and the number is likely even lower in rural Arkansas.
The Center for Hearing Health Access team will partner with community members to identify:
• Affordable, acceptable over-the-counter device options
• Preferred locations to obtain these devices
• Trusted local partners, such as primary care staff and pharmacists, who can help older adults select and fit them
This work is part of a larger investment in innovation at UAMS, as UAMS awarded 14 grants totaling $273,072 at the annual Chancellor’s Circle Grant Awards ceremony on Nov. 3 at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum.
Congratulations, Dr. Emmett, and thank you for advancing hearing health access for older adults across Arkansas!
