Audiologist helps people regain quality of life

Intermountain Catholic

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Dr. Niki Woodward Barwick, audiologist, uses the Caption Call phone set up in her office to demonstrate its usefulness and ease. IC photo/Christine Young

BOUNTIFUL — Untreated hearing loss affects the quality of life not only for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing but also for their whole family.

"Hearing loss isolates people," said Dr. Niki Woodward Barwick, audiologist. She is the director of audiology at Mountain West, an ear, nose and throat and audiology center with offices in Bountiful, Layton and Ogden. Barwick is also a member of Holy Family Parish in Ogden.

"People wait seven years longer than they should to be checked for hearing aids," Barwick said. "They think hearing aids will make them look old, but their quality of life is greatly improved and the stigma goes away once they can hear. When they can’t hear, they don’t want to communicate because it’s too hard, so they just nod their head, stop doing activities and socializing with friends. Communication is important for people at any age and when they don’t have it, they become isolated and depressed."

Developments in technology have led to improved hearing aids, cochlear implants, cell phones with text messaging, and caption telephones, all of which have helped people to communicate, said Barwick.

Barwick grew up in Ogden and attended Saint Joseph Catholic Schools from kindergarten through 12th grade, graduating in 1998. She always wanted to be a doctor, "but I can’t stand the sight of blood," she said. "So that wouldn’t work, but I felt I could deal with ear wax."

Barwick has always wanted to be a philanthropist, and when she received a call from the Olive Osmond Foundation to be the audiologist to fit children with hearing aids she gladly accepted the offer. The Olive Osmond Foundation is now known as the Children’s Miracle Network and is located in Provo.

"Mother Osmond, as she was known, started the foundation because her two eldest sons were born with a degenerative condition which left them nearly deaf and it was difficult for her to find the services or training they needed," said Barwick. "It was Olive Osmond’s dream to create a fund so people would be able to get hearing aids, so the Osmond Brothers began their musical careers to help the family raise funds."

Last summer through the Children’s Miracle Network and My Hearing Centers in Sandy, Barwick fit 11 children who live along the Wasatch Front with free hearing aids, she said. "The Osmond Brothers raise funds through 5K runs and concerts and all the proceeds are used to buy hearing aids," she said. "We continually get names and put them on a list and we will most likely fit children with hearing aids again next summer."

Barwick learned Catholic values and the desire for philanthropy from her grandmother Rose Tonti, a member of Saint James the Just Parish in Ogden. "My grandmother is 91, and is always helping people by cooking for them and praying for them and she taught me not to take things for granted," Barwick said. "She is such an optimist even though she had a hard life growing up in Italy."

"It’s amazing to be able to help people hear again," said Barwick. "We live in a hearing world and it’s hard for someone who hears to imagine what someone who can’t hear goes through."

Mountain West ENT is offering free Caption Call phones to anyone with hearing loss until Dec. 31, 2012. Caption Call, a Utah-based company, partners with Mountain West to provide the phones, which have a screen that displays a caption of what the callers say. The hook-up requires a standard home phone connection and high-speed Internet connection.

For information, call 1-877-557-2227 and mention promo code HS1105. For information about Mountain West, www.mountainwestent.com.