May Is Hearing Awareness Month Series:Blog Four: Social and Behavioural Ability – Hearing is Central to Total Wellness

Welcome to our final installment of our May is Hearing Awareness Month series.

One of the most common consequences of hearing loss is decline in relationships and withdrawal from social activities. While adults who experienced hearing loss early on in their lives have developed a personality that is used to coping with this disability, adults who experience hearing loss at a later stage in their life have not developed a skill set for coping with this disability. They may find themselves having to alter or tweak their behaviours to accommodate this communication barrier.

With hearing loss, people have a harder time following daily conversations, and communication in places with lots of background noise could become increasingly difficult. Due to these new communication barriers, people often find themselves retracting from and partaking in fewer social activities. This may lead to feelings of isolation and exclusion. People either may feel like it takes too much effort to continue staying involved in different activities or they feel embarrassed having to constantly ask people to repeat themselves. According to a 4000 participant survey conducted by the National Council of Aging, results show that hearing aid users are on average “more socially active and avoid extended periods of depression, worry, paranoia and insecurity compared to non-users” (Kochkin & Rogin, 2000). Not only were improvements seen in their overall quality of life, family and friends noticed improvements to user’s mental, physical, and social well-being as well.

For more information or to book an appointment please contact Accurate Hearing at one of our 3 locations.

Lower Sackville: 902-252-3004

Halifax: 902-423-7732

Cole Harbour: 902-406-4327