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Our core
impact

The differences we make for people living with hearing loss is our most important contribution to society and to a more sustainable world.

Today, one in five people live with hearing loss according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and, due to increasing life expectancy, this number is growing. If left untreated, hearing loss can impact a person’s ability to interact, contribute and feel a sense of belonging.

We help people overcome hearing loss through awareness and improve their quality of life through innovative solutions and personal care. We want to, ultimately, make a positive impact on global health. 

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    Improved lives

    2030 target
    More than 16 million lives improved

    2024 performance
    11 million lives improved


     

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    Awareness

    2030 target
    Increase awareness by hearing-testing more than 2 million people

    2024 performance
    1.5 million people hearing-tested


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    In the framework of our International Campaign for Better Hearing, many countries in which Demant is present with hearing clinics developed local awareness initiatives

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    Interacoustics Research Unit supported the roll-out of ACT test, allowing hearing care professionals to predict the quality of a person’s aided hearing in everyday speech-in-noise scenarios

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    Oticon’s research centre, Eriksholm, participated in the EU-funded project EASYLI, which aims to examine and optimise the cost/benefit ratio of effortful listening in occupational settings

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    Through the dedicated scientific focus on Artificial Intelligence, the Eriksholm Research Centre advanced AI research to enhance benefits for people living with hearing loss

Our ambition is reflected in our targets and in various projects and initiatives, such as the following cases illustrate.

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Helping the world hear better: International Campaign for Better Hearing 

We want to do our part in breaking down barriers to better hearing and help ensure that more people experience the benefits of improved hearing health. Through the Campaign For Better Hearing, our Hearing Care Business, Audika Group, pushes this agenda in selected local markets across the world.    

The campaign actively helps remove a critical barrier to better hearing: Every time someone gets their hearing tested at one of the clinics that participate in the programme, the clinic donates a specific amount of money to the campaign. The funds are then used, through local give-back programmes, to provide free hearing aids to people who otherwise could not afford them.


 

Driving innovation in hearing healthcare: inside our research centers  

Innovation and technology are core driving forces for Demant, enabling us to turn big ideas into real and meaningful solutions for people living with hearing loss. 

Beyond dedicated R&D teams, we boast two primary research centres that are pivotal in driving innovation within the research field of hearing health. They collaborate with universities and other educational institutions, fostering a dynamic environment of knowledge exchange and innovation and their work pushes the boundaries of what is possible in hearing healthcare.

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Eriksholm Research Centre

Eriksholm Research Centre, part of Oticon, is the largest scientific research facility in the hearing aid industry. Since 1976, Eriksholm has developed a deep understanding of the real-life implications of hearing loss and continues to leverage every day through four research areas: Personalised audiology, cognitive hearing science, intent decoding and artificial intelligence.

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Interacoustics research unit (IRU) 

IRU is part of Interacoustics, Demant’s Diagnostics business area, and it is located at the heart of the Technical University of Denmark. Established in 2013, IRU is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for people living with hearing loss by advancing the field of audiology and pioneering new technology and innovative solutions. The research focuses on applied and clinical projects in audiometry, electrophysiology, hearing aid fitting and impedance.


Innovation to solve real-world problems
Some of the most groundbreaking projects spearheaded by our research centres are driven by a common purpose: solving real-world problems though innovation. By taking a closer look at these initiatives, we can appreciate the significant progress being made by audiology research and the promising path that lies ahead.
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Enhancing hearing aid technology through artificial intelligence (AI)

The researchers at Eriksholm Research Centre are investigating how the brain focuses on specific sounds in noisy environments. The project utilizes electroencephalography (EEG) to measure brain activity while participants listen to speech amidst background noise.

By tracking brain responses to speech in noisy conditions, the research aims to create hearing aids that better support users in challenging listening situations. This approach not only promises to improve the user experience but also contributes to the broader understanding of auditory attention and its implications for hearing aid technology.
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Improving hearing aid fittings in infants

A core theme for Interacoustics Research Unit (IRU) is to improve validations of fittings in infants that are too young for behavioural hearing testing. In many countries, hospitals and clinics are good at detecting hearing loss at an early age. But when it comes to verifying that a hearing aid or cochlear implant is actually working as intended, clinicians have had to wait until the child is around 9 months old to be able to complete a behavioural test in which the child responds to external sounds.

In collaboration with the University of Manchester, IRU has developed a new, objective method which enables clinicians to verify that a hearing solution has been fitted correctly in infants that are a mere three to seven months of age.

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Noise at the workplace

We know that disturbing noise is the most frequent workplace complaint. On one hand, noise leads to stress and fatigue, which are further linked to increased sick leave, early retirement and productivity loss. On the other, communication enables interaction and participation, which is crucial for health and well-being.

Since 2024, Eriksholm has been participating in the 5-year EU-funded project EASYLI to examine the balance between benefits of effort and costs of effort, and optimise the ratio between costs and benefits of effortful listening in work situations. The learnings help detect fatigue early on and prevent the negative effects of high listening effort. Individualised interventions can improve the listening value, thus reducing the negative effects and socioeconomic burden of listening that requires a lot of effort.