Managing Hearing Loss If I

If I Were the Minister of Hearing Health By Shari Eberts

I am a huge Harry Potter fan so when someone asked me, “What would you do if you were the Minister of Hearing Health?” my head immediately filled with images of wands and other wizardly gear. Could I simply flick my wand and make hearing loss disappear, I wondered?

Okay, back to reality.

Hearing loss makes communication difficult, and communication is the glue that binds us to the people and activities we love. Healthy hearing helps us stay connected to the things that matter to us. When people at all stages of the hearing journey—even those with typical hearing— accept this link, we will see real change.

My Healthy Hearing Priorities

1. Link healthy hearing to overall health. Hearing loss is associated with many health problems including depression, a higher risk of falls, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Hearing loss is also one of the largest modifiable risk factors for developing dementia. Making this information more widely known is key. 2. Beef up accessibility measures. According to the World Health Organization, 430 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss, and this number is expected to jump to 700 million by 2050, affecting 10 percent of the population. Beefing up accessibility measures like captioning and assistive listening technologies in public spaces, entertainment venues, and online will help keep this growing population engaged. 3. Incorporate hearing into routine medical care. Why don’t doctors regularly screen for hearing loss? Perhaps they don’t understand the linkages to overall health, or perhaps they are not reimbursed for doing so. Insurance plans and medical school training must be modified to put hearing care center stage. We must also learn to understand our role in receiving proper hearing care. 4. Make hearing devices of all types affordable. Hearing aids are expensive. So are cochlear implants, but at least in the United States, implants are usually covered by insurance. New over-the-counter hearing aids for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss will help improve access, but overall affordability is lacking. We must expand national health and private insurance plans so they include not only regular hearing tests, but also devices and aural rehabilitation services. 5. Promote hearing loss prevention. Scientists cannot yet repair damaged hearing, so we must protect it. Health curricula for students of all ages must teach how and why to protect hearing. Making the use of hearing protection cool would save millions from the challenges of hearing loss. As would better enforcement of noise protection laws. 6. Support research into treatments and cures. The more scientists learn about how hearing works (and doesn’t work), the more success they will have in developing new cures and better ways to prevent hearing loss. Governments must allocate more funds to support this work.

If I were a fantasy Minister of Hearing Health, this is what I would hope to achieve. As a real-life healthy hearing advocate, I’m already spreading the word.

Staff writer Shari Eberts serves on the Hearing Loss Association of America’s Board of Directors and is a past chair of HHF’s Board of Directors. This is adapted from her blog at livingwithhearingloss.com. Eberts and Gael Hannan, coauthors of the book “Hear & Beyond,” discuss the topic of this column on the Habits & Health podcast, at tonywinyard.com/shari-eberts-gael-hannan. For references, see hhf.org/winter2023-references.

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