‘The Australian government funds the Hearing Services Program to a tune of more than $531m dollars but, established in 1997, it still has no statement of purpose or specific objectives.’ Photograph: Rawpixel/Getty Images/iStockphoto
OpinionHealth
Why Australia must break the conspiracy of silence and restore hearing to the most vulnerable
Ranjana Srivastava
It is time the government listened to the experts and reined in misleading providers
Wed 5 Jul 2023 12.01 AEST
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“If I don’t do something about my hearing, I fear I could lose my mind.”
While hearing loss is indeed a strongly modifiable risk factor for dementia, it shouldn’t have taken this pronouncement for me to pay attention.
For some years, my mother has observed that her hearing isn’t as good as it used to be, which describes nearly three-quarters of people like her over age 70. But she seemed to get by in social settings and sometimes at home we just shouted a little louder.
Attracted by an ad for free hearing aids at a mall, she met an obliging man who, after perfunctory testing, declared that she needed hearing aids. She demurred due to the stigma but the man kept calling and texting every week. Eventually, the combination of “wasting the poor man’s time” and her own concern led her back to the shop where she was fitted with a pair of hearing aids. To her mind, their being “free” reasonably mitigated any downside. “If they work, that’s good; if not, they are free.”
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