Summary: My research program focuses on the development, evaluation, and implementation of innovative hearing healthcare service delivery models that improve access, affordability, and outcomes—particularly for to promote “auditory wellness.” A central objective of this work is to advance self-management–oriented and patient-centered models of care by leveraging digital and virtual health technologies to create scalable and sustainable solutions that complement existing hearing healthcare systems and support translation of research into clinical and real-world practice.
Question: How can different elements of hearing healthcare services be optimally delivered—by whom, where, when, and how—to maximize individual as well as population-level benefit while maintaining clinical effectiveness and person-centered care?
Research Areas: My research program is organized around the following thematic areas:
- Hearing Healthcare Service Delivery Models: Development and evaluation of evidence-based service delivery models—including direct-to-consumer and community-based rehabilitation approaches—to improve accessibility, affordability, quality, and outcomes of hearing healthcare.
- eHealth and Telehealth: Design and evaluation of internet-based and digital tools for hearing healthcare, including screening, assessment, triage, and intervention, with an emphasis on guided behavioral rehabilitation delivered via tele-rehabilitation and digital therapeutics.
- Consumer Health Informatics: Examination of patient-generated health data and online health communities, focusing on how individuals use digital platforms (e.g., internet resources, social media, and apps) for self-assessment, self-management, and decision-making related to communication disorders.
- Psychosocial Aspects of Hearing Disability: Investigation of psychosocial determinants of hearing health, including knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to hearing health and rehabilitation, as well as factors influencing help-seeking, uptake, and sustained use of hearing interventions, to inform patient-centered care strategies.
Approach: My research program uses an interdisciplinary and multimethod approach to examine hearing healthcare delivery across clinical, community, and virtual settings. Depending on the research question, we integrate quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods designs, including clinical and population-based studies, patient-reported outcome measures, behavioral and psychosocial assessments, and analysis of patient-generated digital health data. Implementation and health services research frameworks are used to evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, scalability, and sustainability of service delivery models, with statistical and mixed-methods integration linking empirical findings to theory-driven and policy-relevant hypotheses.
Laboratories: I lead the Auditory Lab at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, a physical laboratory based at the Anschutz Medical Campus and equipped with sound-treated rooms and comprehensive audiological instrumentation. I also co-lead the Virtual Hearing Lab with Prof. De Wet Swanepoel, an interdisciplinary collaborative focused on improving hearing health access, affordability, and outcomes through internet-based and digital health approaches. In addition, I leverage electronic medical record data from academic medical centers, national population-based datasets, publicly available consumer data, and collaborations with Hearing Tracker to conduct consumer surveys that complement clinical and laboratory research.