Hearing Loss - A Big Impact on Your Pocketbook!!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 – 1 Comments
In these times of layoffs and uncertainty, it’s more important than ever to make sure your performing at your best on the job.
The past 3 days I’ve spoken with three patients in the process of obtaining hearing aids for the first time. All three shared an important similarity – they were still working and described their hearing loss as affecting not only their home and personal life, but also having a significant impact on their success at work. One man was in sales and he was misunderstanding his clients, another described the embarrassment he felt missing crucial information in management meetings, and the other man (in his late 30s) had been demoted from a higher paying assembly line job to an office job because he couldn’t hear instructions from his supervisor.
All three instances reminded me of a study by The Better Hearing Institute in 2007 on the effects of potential lost income that results from untreated hearing loss. Link here. As much as $23,000 per year may be lost if hearing loss has been diagnosed but left untreated (i.e. hearing aids not used).
Interestingly, all three men had known about, or suspected, their hearing loss for several years, but delayed taking action. The urging of family members, today’s economic times and job security, and the firm promptings of their employers were the deciding factors for the three people to take action and be fit with hearing aids.
The Better Hearing Institute also follows in that study that with, “The use of hearing aids would appear to mitigate income loss by 50%.” Wow! The study is incredibly detailed and is a solid reminder that hearing loss doesn’t just affect the obvious situations.
The idea of income loss had never been studied up to then, and is one of a number of factors hearing loss adversely affects in our lives. Hearing loss affects not only the person experiencing the loss, but those closest to us – our family members, friends, co-workers, and everyone else we come into contact. I’m reminded of this every day. If you’re reading this, and are considering hearing aids, go ahead and reflect on how your hearing problems may impact so many other things and people around you. Don’t hesitate to share those experiences by commenting on this post.
Steve