Hearing care for aging well: How and why to address hearing loss by Marilynn Larkin, MA

On February 28, 2019, to coincide with World Hearing Day, one of the world's leading medical journals introduced a commission to address the global burden of hearing loss. This Lancet commission launch followed a 2017 review on the topic, which noted that, globally, hearing loss is the fourth leading cause of years lived with disability. Perhaps even more significant for the active-aging industry, the review stated that hearing loss "reaches far beyond the sensory impairment...and is strongly associated with dementia and other health conditions among people in the sixth decade of life and older." Therefore, constituents and in some cases management and staff may be affected, with impacts to overall wellness and quality of life as well as health. ..."Everyone is complaining about healthcare costs and talking about what they want to do to keep people healthy longer," says Charlotte Yeh, MD, chief medical officer for AARP Services, Inc. "Hearing is the one thing all of us can and should address right now." The Journal on Active Aging talked with Yeh about how the active-aging industry can mobilize to promote hearing care and address hearing loss, plus why it's important to take action now.