Faces of Audiology

David Crowhen

Director of Phonak and Operations NZ

Based at Phonak NZ in Auckland, NZ

Focus: After working clinically for 10 years in both public and private settings in NZ and the UK, David joined Sonova in 2009. He strongly believes in and promotes the inclusion of family into hearing rehabilitation, also called Family-Centered Care.

Pragmatic work addict and full-blooded bass guitarist

David on

“There’s the data and the science and the fittings, but you’re actually dealing with people. Not just the measurable impairment and the physical disability, but also the impact of it.”

I have always enjoyed everything related to music, and even though I do not find as much time for playing with my band “Undercut” than I would love to, I am really passionate about playing the bass guitar. My interest in music and in helping people made Audiology a natural career choice for me. Looking back at more than 20 years in this field, it was the perfect choice for me. I love what I do and it’s important that it makes a difference. I want everyone to enjoy hearing – and music – as well as they can.

Why I believe in including the family into the process of hearing rehabilitation? Because we know that hearing loss does not only affect the individual but also their communication network. Hearing loss is a third-party disability. Research shows us that by actively engaging our significant other into the process, you get insights that you would otherwise not have had. And my personal experience has shown me: Setting joint goals is really helpful for people to do better in their hearing journey.

I’m really a big advocate of evidence-based practice and supporting clinicians in their work with end-users. I see it as one of our most important tasks to help hearing care professionals optimize the solutions to meet each client’s individual needs. That really drives me, and writing papers and developing tools is therefore a part of my work that I enjoy very much and see huge benefit in.

Davids thoughts on…

…the future of audiology:

Studies and publications (selection)

  • Field trial shows that a Roger™ receiver is faster and easier to set up in hearing aids with RogerDirect™ than previous systems requiring external receivers. by D. Crowhen, C. Gordon

  • Providing some direction – beamformers explained. by D. Crowhen

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  • Ease of hearing aid pairing and sound-quality ratings for binaurally streamed phone and music. by D. Crowhen

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  • FOCAS: Family Oriented Communication Assessment and Solutions – A new holistic tool for performing hearing needs assessments. by B. Turnbull, D. Crowhen

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  • An Innovative Otoblock that Enables Deeper Impression Taking. by D. Crowhen

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  • The performance of an automatic acoustic-based program classifier compared to hearing aid users’ manual selection of listening programs. by G. Searchfield, T. Linford, K. Kobayashi, D. Crowhen, M. Latzel

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  • Tinnitus fittings and the value of real-ear measures. by D. Crowhen, A. Biggins

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  • Case study: Nylon earmould’s and BTE covers allow child with reaction to conventional materials to establish regular hearing aid use. by D. Crowhen, L. Searchfield

  • A guide to verifying CROS and Bi-CROS fittings using probe-microphone measures. by D. Crowhen

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  • Middle-ear myoclonus and tinnitus. by D. Crowhen

  • Oval window fistula during flight in a stapedectomy patient. by D. Crowhen

  • High jugular bulb. by D. Crowhen

  • The influence of musical experience and short term auditory training on medial olivocochlear bundle activity. by D. Crowhen

  • A faster way to setting up external recievers: Using Roger and hearing aids with RogerDirect. by D. Crowhen, C. Gordon

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Articles by David


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David Crowhen
David James Crowhen
Director of Phonak and Operations NZ

David has worked at Phonak for over 10 years. An interest in music and helping people made Audiology a natural career choice, and David graduated from the Master of Audiology course at University of Auckland, New Zealand in 1999. He worked clinically for 10 years, in both public and private settings, and in both NZ and overseas. David has a special interest in advanced hearing instrument and wireless communication technology, the selection of these based on client and family needs and supporting verification and evaluation of these features in the clinical setting.

Phonak Faces of Audiology

Audiological excellence has always been an integral part of our DNA: We employ more than 1,000 audiologists worldwide, over the last 15 years, we have fit almost 2,000 subjects as part of our product validation process, and we typically work on around 60 studies a year.

But there is more to global audiology excellence than just numbers. It’s the people that ultimately make the difference.

We are proud of our global team of audiologists. They make sure that we not only develop innovative solutions, but – even more importantly – their main task is to ensure that these are translated into real-life user benefits. Their diverse educational and cultural backgrounds, know-how, dedication and passion are the driving force behind our solutions, training and support.

This is why we want to invite you to get to know the people behind the scenes. We proudly present: our Faces of Audiology!

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