Florence Hearing Health Care, a private audiology clinic serving western Massachusetts and beyond, welcomed Dr. Christine Kelley as an official member of their team recently as a way to support the ever-growing need of quality care in the Hampshire County area.
Dr. Kelley earned her Doctoral degree in Audiology from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. As a student, she was one of a handful of students picked to be a presenter at the student research forum in 2009 at the American Academy of Audiology annual convention. Christine completed her fourth year at New York Eye and Ear in New York City. Christine is originally from Long Island and has lived in Western Mass since 2010. Dr. Kelley holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC-A) from the American Speech, Language, and Hearing Association.
Christine knew she wanted to be an Audiologist after volunteering at Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech during her time at the University of Massachusetts as an undergraduate student in the Communications Disorders department. She saw first hand how hearing loss and hearing aids directly impact peoples' lives and was inspired to help others hear their world and communicate with friends and family. Christine also knows what it is like to live with someone with hearing loss as her husband has had hearing loss since birth and worn hearing aids since childhood. The experience of sharing a life with someone with hearing loss gives her a unique perspective of understanding the everyday struggles that can occur when someone has a hearing loss and how it affects their family around them as well.
“Dr. Kelley comes to Florence Hearing with more than 14 years of clinical audiology experience in addition to her personal experience living with a spouse with hearing loss,” said Dr. Jennifer Sowards. “With that combination she brings both clinical expertise and empathy to her work with our patients. We are happy that she has chosen to join our team.”
“I am excited to be a part of a practice that works collaboratively to provide top-notch hearing health care,” said Dr. Christine Kelley. “Part of the reason I wanted to join Florence Hearing is their commitment to employee wellbeing as part of their Florence Hearing Promise. I'm looking forward to meeting many more members of our community on their hearing healthcare journey.”
The practice aims to educate the community about hearing health care, including the signs of hearing loss and the available treatment options that can improve the quality of life for those who experience it, as well as encourage adults to get a baseline hearing test and to protect the hearing they do have. FHHC works with their clients to meet them where they are in their hearing health care journey.