Summary reader response draft 4

The article titled "Innovative Face Mask Breaks Inclusivity Barriers'' depicts the invention of 'Helloface', a 3-ply structure that is a good and creative replacement for Type IIR EN14683 medical face masks that is designed by Dean Ezekiel (University of Hertfordshire, n.d.). According to University of Hertfordshire(n.d.), the inspiration of the ‘Helloface’ mask came from his wife who is partially deaf and relies on lip-reading in order to understand the person she is talking to if she could not hear the person. As such, with the importance of having access to communication via lip reading and facial expressions and in addition to tackling the outbreak of Covid19, ‘Helloface’ mask was invented in hopes to solve the issue with communication by the hearing-impaired during the pandemic. Currently, there are two types of ‘Helloface’ masks available to the market namely the ‘transparent medical face mask’ and ‘P3 half mask respirator’. The ‘transparent medical face mask’ is a substitute for the Type IIR masks, which are non-reusable and made from TPE, which is recyclable and soft (Indiegogo, n.d.). The other variant, the ‘P3 half mask respirator’, is a reusable mask that can be used up to 30 times, and it is able to filter 99% of the air and provide excellent protection as it is airtight and sealed to the user's face (Indiegogo, n.d.).

The ‘Helloface’ mask has benefited the medical and healthcare sector with the mask being transparent, allowing full view of the healthcare worker’s face in order to allow lip reading and using TPE material that fits comfortably for the user to wear for a prolonged period. However, the cost may affect people’s choice of purchasing it.

The ‘Helloface’ mask can be beneficial to the medical sector as it is transparent, allowing full view of the healthcare worker’s face to aid them in communicating with the patients that have hearing disabilities by reading their lips and expression. According to the University of Hertfordshire(n.d.), there are 11 million of people in the UK that are registered as hearing-impaired or deaf. Additionally, an average of 1 out of 5 people in the UK has experienced issues with hearing loss and of those, there are 151,000 of people who interact with people using British Sign Language (Indiegogo, n.d.). Unfortunately, with most masks provided to the medical personnel in the market being largely opaque masks, there is a blockage of  vital ways of communication for the hearing impaired such as lip reading and facial recognition. Therefore, the features of the ‘Helloface’ mask solves the restriction of communicating with one another with just hand signals by being transparent and clear so individuals can read lips easily, and with anti-fogging glasses provided, users are able to communicate with one another without worrying the mask will fog up, blurring the user’s lips (Indiegogo, n.d.).

The other benefit of the ‘Helloface’ mask is its trait of being comfortable to wear as the other masks in the market are either uncomfortable to wear or unable to protect others well from user’s sprays. According to Esmaeilzadeh(2022), long usage of face masks may cause negative effects such as feeling unfit, tight, itchy, and fatigued, which may result in bilateral headaches. The comfort that the ‘Helloface’ mask is able to provide with qualities such as allowing the user to adjust the ear loop straps of the mask and the addition of it being made from flexible TPE material that caters to different faces or head shapes and sizes (Indiegogo, n.d.). In this way, users are able to wear the mask for extend period of time as needed.

However, the ‘Helloface’ masks are expensive as compared to masks such as surgical masks or N95. The price for a pack of 50 disposable surgical masks is as low as $10, with a pack of 100 between $12.75 and $20; and a pack of 10 industrial N95 masks found at hardware stores can be purchased for around $20 (Nesbit, 2022). With the price of the ‘Helloface’ masks being $22 for a pack of 5 for the normal transparent medical face mask and $51 for one P3 half mask respirator, according to the Indiegogo(n.d.), it might be a hard decision for a consumer to purchase a costly mask, let alone a person that is hearing impaired. Moreover, the usage of masks surges due to Covid19 will not be sustainable in the long run for people to purchase an expensive mask like the ‘Helloface’. 

In conclusion, the amount of evidence is sufficient to show how the benefits of the ‘Helloface’ mask stand out in the medical and healthcare sectors. However, the cost to purchase the ‘Helloface’ mask might be a setback even if it provides substantial amount of benefits as there are cheaper alternative masks that are more sustainable in the long run. In the end, the innovation of ‘Helloface’ masks is a great way to solve the issues of communication with people that have hearing disabilities, and with further improvement and adjustments to the features and cost, it would surely be used widely in the future.

References

Esmaeilzadeh, P. (2022, January 12). Public concerns and burdens associated with face mask-wearing: Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. NCBI. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8752171/

Indiegogo. (n.d.). Helloface: CE Marked, Clear Face Masks. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/helloface-ce-marked-clear-face-masks#/

Nesbit, J. (2022, January 19). How Much Do Masks Really Cost? From Cloth to KN95, Here’s a Price Breakdown. Yahoo. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/much-masks-really-cost-cloth-174601985.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGvaudlcxOAHn4P6nyecmGlEpVZdCaoONKz616o074WoeQ-XH5dP8kHQsUESj-Wm6OLePHDWvH-IPFO1jjF-xQu8LFrGat30UG8R

University of Hertfordshire. (n.d.). Helloface Innovative Face Mask. https://www.herts.ac.uk/enterprise-zone/news-and-case-studies/case-studies/business-incubation/innovative-face-mask-breaks-inclusivity-barriers

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