Family Members Play Critical Role In Addressing Loved Ones' Hearing Loss

By Kathy Mellott, AuD

According to a Better Hearing Institute survey, more than half of new first-time owners of hearing aids indicated that family members were a key factor influencing their purchase of a hearing aid. According to Sergei Kochkin, PhD, executive director of BHI, denial poses significant barriers to the improved well-being of people with unaddressed hearing loss “Half of people with untreated hearing loss simply aren't aware of their hearing loss and the impact it has on their lives and the lives of their loved ones…”

“To compensate for hearing loss,” Kochkin continues, “people in denial often ask those around them to repeat information at greater volume, unintentionally compelling their loved ones to act as their ears, which can actually do more harm than good. It enables the hearing loss to have a continued negative impact on numerous aspects of the individual's quality of life.”

Hearing loss is one of the most commonly unaddressed health conditions in America, and affects more than 34 million Americans. Six out of ten Americans with hearing loss are below retirement age. Numerous studies have linked untreated hearing loss to a wide range of physical and emotional conditions, including irritability, negativism, anger, fatigue, tension, stress, depression, avoidance, or withdrawal from social situations, social rejection and loneliness, reduced alertness and increased risk to personal safety, impaired memory and ability to learn new tasks, reduced job performance and earning power, and diminished psychological and overall health.

“When a family member experiences unaddressed hearing loss, it silently erodes his quality of life-undermining family relationships, interfering with short-term memory, and creeping into virtually every aspect of daily living,” says Kochkin. “I encourage anyone who has a loved one with unaddressed hearing loss to make the most self-less…resolution you've ever made. Reach out and stop your loved one from drawing back in isolated silence.”