Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences

About Dana Urbanski

Dana Urbanski, AuD, PhD, CCC-A, is a clinical audiologist and scientist with specialized training in gerontology, aging research, and long-term care. She aims to improve hearing healthcare by developing services, technologies, and outcome measures that account for the varied abilities, goals, and needs of older adults—with the goal of supporting better communication, participation, and quality of life in older adulthood. A central line of her research focuses on dementia, examining how hearing interventions can be adapted to better support people living with dementia and their caregivers.

Dr. Urbanski’s research program advances three complementary areas: (1) designing and testing clinical and behavioral interventions that expand access to and improve the effectiveness of hearing care; (2) developing and using outcome measures that more fully capture the benefits of hearing care across heterogeneous aging populations; and (3) creating and evaluating new and existing hearing technologies through a human-centered design and usability lens, ensuring devices align with the goals and capabilities of older adults and those who support them.

Selected Publications

Urbanski, D. P., Birkeland, R. W., Albers, E. A., Roth, D. L., Baker, Z. G., Gustavson, A. M., Yam, H., & Gaugler, J. E. (in press). Process evaluation of the Residential Care Transition Module. BMC Health Services Research.

Parikh, R. R., Shippee, T. P., Wolf, J. M., Langworthy, B. W., Fabius, C., Dill, J., Urbanski, D.P., Giordano, S., & Jutkowitz, E. (in press). Changes in service use and unmet needs in home- and community-based services in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Geriatrics.

Urbanski, D. P., Johnson, E. B., Frazier, R., Almiron, M., Chapman, S., Kefene, T., et al. (2025). Developing a community advisory board to combat ageism: Process and preliminary outcomes. Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, 46(1), 99–114. 

Vazquez, C. E., Falk, D., Urbanski, D. P., Kwong, K., Abudu-Birresborn, D., Bacsu, J. D., et al. (2025). The relationship between social media use and loneliness across the lifespan in the United States: Population-based study using Health Information National Trends Survey data. Advances in Patient-Reported Outcomes, 1(1), 100196. 

Scattarelli, J., Moeller, K., Urbanski, D., & DeLiema, M. (2025). Perspectives on the challenges of planning for and accessing long-term dementia care services through Medicaid and Medicaid waivers. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 0(0). 

Gustavson, A. M., Urbanski, D. P., McMahon, S. K., & Moone, R. (2025). Advancing the impact of research through a dissemination-focused special interest group. BMJ Open, 15(4), e098130. 

Urbanski, D. P., Wolf, J. M., Langworthy, B. W., Parikh, R. R., Jutkowitz, E., & Shippee, T. P. (2024). Reported unmet hearing aid need in older people with dementia: The US National Core Indicators Survey. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 25(5), 853–859. 

Venkitakrishnan, S., Urbanski, D., & Wu, Y. H. (2023). Efficacy and effectiveness of evidence-based non–self-fitting presets compared to prescription hearing aid fittings and a personal sound amplification product. American Journal of Audiology, 33(1), 31–54. 

Urbanski, D., & Wu, Y. H. (2021). New evidence-based fitting paradigm for over-the-counter hearing aids. The Hearing Journal, 74(4), 16–18. 

Urbanski, D., Hernandez, H., Oleson, J., & Wu, Y. H. (2021). Toward a new evidence-based fitting paradigm for over-the-counter hearing aids. American Journal of Audiology, 30(1), 43–66. (Editor’s Award, American Journal of Audiology, 2021).

Jensen, J., Vyas, D., Urbanski, D., Garudadri, H., Chipara, O., & Wu, Y. H. (2020). Common configurations of real-ear aided response targets prescribed by NAL-NL2 for older adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss. American Journal of Audiology, 29(3), 460–475.