OTC Hearing Aid and MCI

Inclusion Criteria:

• Over 60 years of age

• Mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment. Diagnosis will be made at participatingmemory evaluation centers (see recruitment).

• Mild to moderate bilateral hearing loss and no current hearing aid use.

• A communication partner who is able and willing to participate in the study.

• No vision impairment that would interfere with the ability to complete study tasks (i.e., legally blind, severe cataracts, or macular degeneration)

• Able to provide own consent as evaluated by the Consent Assessment

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Clinically significant unstable or progressive medical conditions, or conditionswhich, in the opinion of the investigator(s) places the participant at unacceptablerisk if he or she were to participate in the study.

2. History of unresolved communication difficulties following another neurologicalproblem (i.e., stroke or brain tumor), neurodevelopmental disorder (i.e., Down'ssyndrome), or head/neck cancer

3. Positive history of major psychiatric disorder (i.e., schizophrenia, significantuntreated depression)

4. Co-enrolled in other intervention studies targeting hearing, language, orcommunication strategies.

5. History or current fluctuating hearing loss