Opening the conversation about hearing loss: a path to better communication

This article was created for Victoria Foundation, and produced independently by Capital Daily. It was approved by Victoria Foundation before it was published.

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The World Health Organization finds roughly 430 million people in the world need rehabilitation for disabling hearing loss. It’s one of the most common healthcare issues in North America today, and is on an incredible rise—by 2050, it’s predicted that as many as 2.5 billion people will be affected.

“It’s really not on anybody’s radar,” said Denise Robertson, executive director of the Island Deaf and Hard of Hearing Centre. “We don't talk about it. It's not something you sit at the dinner table and have a conversation about on a regular basis.”

Despite being so common, many people affected by hearing loss are reluctant to get help. Unlike the excitement of getting a new pair of glasses, the prospect of having to buy hearing aids can bring with it feelings of shame and embarrassment, with as many as 35 per cent of devices ending up in a drawer within two months of purchase.

Acknowledging that one has a hearing problem can take years, even decades to come to terms with. Adapting to a world as a person with a hearing disability is often a difficult and isolating experience.

The Island Deaf and Hard of Hearing Centre (IDHHC) is determined to turn this around, as a Victoria-based non-profit that provides services and support to Deaf and hard of hearing individuals and their families across Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.

Hearing aids, free assessments, communication skills

As Vancouver Island’s only non-profit hearing centre of its kind, the IDHHC provides a variety of services such as evaluations, hearing aid services, and cochlear implant support. One of their most successful programs, the Sound of Change Initiative, provides free hearing assessments, refurbished hearing aids, and communication devices to vulnerable and at-risk populations including low-income seniors and adults, supplying nearly 2,500 hearing aids since its launch in 2016.

Much of the work being done by the IDHHC, however, focuses on education and rehabilitation.

“There's a whole process that goes along with [aural rehabilitation], and we really want to take the time and give people the opportunity to learn, to become educated in their own hearing health and how to continue to strive to get better at that,” said Robertson.

“The objective is always better communication. We want great communication with our families, with our doctors, in our churches, in our community. We know how important quality of life is, and we provide all kinds of wraparound services that will help individuals get to that point,” Robertson said.

Combating neglect and stigmatization

Unlike many other disabilities, hearing loss is invisible. As a result, people experiencing hearing loss often feel discouraged to reach out for help, and may feel embarrassed trying to have constructive conversations with managers or friends and family, in fear of being judged as “old” or, particularly with teens, “not cool.”

“It's something that just sort of sits there, not necessarily recognizable, right? And because we don't recognize it, nor see it all the time, nor hear about it and deal with it, it kind of goes undetected,” Robertson explained.

She has seen thousands of people come to the centre throughout her career, many of whom experience a profound emotional impact after years—even decades—of neglecting their hearing loss. She describes one woman crying after coming in with her daughter to get a hearing test, realizing it had been 10 years since they had properly heard each other. She has witnessed grandparents hear their children’s voices for the first time in their lives, having been profoundly hard of hearing since their birth.

“The concern for us is what happens to someone's quality of life when they suddenly miss those conversations,” she said, adding that people don’t realize what they’ve been missing out on once they actually get the help they need. “Hearing the sound of birds, a dog walking on a kitchen floor, the turn signal in a car for the first time. Music is a huge one.”

Community help goes a long way

As hearing loss affects so many aspects of a person’s life, the IDHHC is continuously looking for more ways to support the community. They provide a variety of workshops for employment support, as well as American Sign Language (ASL) training and interpreting, among many others. With more funding, they hope to create even more workshops such as fire safety and in-depth cochlear implant support.

The IDHHC relies heavily on the support of partners like the Victoria Foundation as well as individual donors to keep providing hearing loss support and find new ways to help the Deaf and hearing-impaired community. If you’re interested in donating or would like to find out more, visit the centre’s website here.