Navigating Hearing Loss:
Your Action Plan for a Sound Future
Countless men and women today suffer from hearing loss, and many of these people aren’t aware they have an issue. This problem impacts 12.5 percent of all individuals today, with some people suffering from mild hearing loss and others being completely deaf. Only a third of these men and women receive treatment.
Untreated hearing loss negatively impacts a person’s life in several ways. It can lead to strained communications, damaged relationships, increased health risks, and more. Every person needs an action plan regarding hearing loss for a sound future. This plan can be developed with the help of local audiologists.
How Pervasive is Hearing Loss?
Thirty-three percent of seniors between 65 and 74 have hearing loss. By the time a person reaches 75, they have a 50 percent chance of having disabling hearing loss. Sadly, many of these people aren’t receiving treatment. A person, on average, doesn’t receive help for this condition for seven years.
Hearing is Not a Priority
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association polled 2,500 individuals a few years ago to learn more about hearing loss. This study found that 20 percent of adults had undergone hearing testing in the past five years compared to 60 percent who underwent vision testing. Over 50 percent of those polled had hearing loss, but only 11 percent sought help. Over 75 percent of those with hearing issues said the problem has been noticeable for over a year, while slightly more than a third said they had been dealing with hearing loss for five years or more. This study shows people don’t prioritize their hearing and will delay seeking treatment for hearing loss for an extended period.
Creating an Action Plan to Address Hearing Loss
Every person needs an action plan for hearing healthcare. The plan should have three parts to streamline hearing healthcare services and quickly address hearing loss.
Hearing healthcare services and treatment aren’t well coordinated. This needs to change. Most healthcare systems today are well-coordinated. For example, a person with cancer will find their oncologist, radiologist, surgeon, and other medical providers in constant contact. Comprehensive public health policies and resources are needed that focus on hearing health and the treatment of hearing loss. These policies and resources will allow more people to learn about hearing loss and services that may benefit them when dealing with this issue.
The plan should include a strategy for dealing with hearing loss. Hearing loss needs must be met efficiently and effectively. Healthcare settings must make it easy for those with hearing loss to communicate with others. To do so, a facility might offer closed-captioned services, sign language interpreters, and amplification services. These facilities also need to make it easy for customers to schedule appointments. Facilities that cater to the hearing-impaired need to reduce background noise, particularly during appointments.
Public health officials need to advocate for increased funding for hearing loss research. National Institutes of Health funding is sorely lacking in this area, even though this problem affects a significant portion of the population. Hearing loss research ranks in the bottom half of the list among the top 30 common conditions that receive funding today through the NIH. However, it is the fifth most common cause of disability. Advocates must push for increased funding so more can be learned about the causes of hearing loss, its impact on a person, and how best to treat it.
With an action plan in place, a healthcare system can better meet the needs of those impacted by hearing loss. At the same time, hearing loss awareness will increase, and solutions will be found that help eliminate any stigma associated with this condition. This will encourage people to seek treatment early and improve their quality of life.
