I was working with a patient today, who lives in a retirement home here in Florida. Her name is Bea and she is 103 years young; she is so full of life and is just amazing to talk with. During our conversation today, she told me that everyone at the retirement home will tell the new people, "Hey, there's Bea and she is 103 years old." Bea said to me,
I was in Costco last Sunday with my 4-year-old daughter.ﾠ In the check out lane in front of us was an older gentleman dressed in his golf clothes.ﾠ He commented to my daughter on how helpful she was being as she took items out of our cart and put them on the counter.ﾠ My daughter is not shy and she started talking to him as well.ﾠ She speaks loudly and clearly and he missed everything that she said.ﾠ I tried to help him out by repeating a little louder what she had said but he couldn't hear me either.ﾠ As he checked out, the cashier tried to tell him how to slide the credit card through the machine.ﾠ He asked the cashier to repeat the instructions three times and finally the cashier just took over the task.ﾠ This gentleman to me represents the millions of people getting a bit older and with age losing their hearing gradually.ﾠ Unfortunately, this gentleman is missing out on life.ﾠ He is completely isolated because he has chosen for some reason to do nothing about his hearing loss.ﾠ I don't know his particular reasons, but none are good enough to go through life like this.ﾠ I didn't jump in to tell him what a difference a hearing aid would make in his life, but I certainly thought about it.ﾠ There are hearing aids that would help him substantially and he would be very satisfied with how they look and sound.ﾠ If only he would just seek out a professional to help.
I find it interesting that hearing aids are starting to go "mainstream" : this year, at least two Academy Award nominated movies featured hearing aids in non-plot-related roles. ﾠIn the Wrestler, Mickey Rourke wears a BTE (albeit a monumentally ugly BTE) in his left ear during most of the movie, and in Revolutionary Road, the realtor's husband wears a body aid and turns it down (thankfully) at the end as his wife pratteles on about how the old neighbors just never "fit in". ﾠAlso, the new Consumer Reports (July 2009) features an updated article on hearing aids that focuses more on the patient journey than soley on technology. ﾠThe only thing missing, IMO, was listing AAA or ADA, rather than exclusively ASHA, as a source of additional information from professional organizations.
All in all, though, progress made towards increasing awareness of hearing loss and a focus on the importance of the provider and the process, rather than simpley the "widget" when it comes to obtaining hearing aids.
