Swedish launches month-long web video series on hearing loss

Published 4:05 pm Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Swedish Medical Center, which has an emergency center in Redmond, and Dr. Douglas Backous, medical director of the Center for Hearing and Skull Base Surgery at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute in Seattle, have launched a month-long web video series to increase awareness of cochlear implant surgery as a treatment option for hearing loss.

The video series will culminate in a live-Tweeted and Instagrammed cochlear implant surgery followed by a text-based chat for the public to interact with leading hearing-loss experts.

Starting Tuesday, two short videos discussing hearing loss and cochlear implant surgery will be released every week throughout September and early October at www.swedish.org/SwedishHear.

A transcript of each video is available by clicking on the video and viewing it on the YouTube video page.

The first video, released today, provides insight on three ways to keep your ears healthy. Other events and videos from the series include:

• Sept. 13: What is the Center for Hearing and Skull Base Surgery (video)
• Sept. 18: What is a cochlear implant? (video)
• Sept. 20: How does a surgeon prepare for a cochlear implant operation? (video)
• Sept. 25: How does a patient prepare for a cochlear implant operation? (video)
• Sept. 27: Frequently asked questions about cochlear implant surgery (video)
• Oct. 2: Live-Tweeted and Instagrammed cochlear implant surgery
• Oct. 4: What it’s like to hear for the first time (video)
• Oct. 10: Live text chat with leading hearing-loss experts and footage from a cochlear implant surgery

The live chat on Oct. 10 will be lead by Backous, Swedish audiologist Stacy Watson, Hearing Loss Association of Washington President Karen Utter and a patient from Swedish who has been through cochlear implant surgery. The chat will provide people the opportunity to submit questions and interact with these hearing-loss experts, as well as view footage (narrated via the text-based chat) from a cochlear implant surgery.

The entire series can be followed online at www.swedish.org/swedishhear and on Twitter by following @Swedish and using the hash tag #SwedishHear.