Published by LAURA WINTHER BALLING
By 2050, the World Health Organization estimates nearly one in four people globally will experience some form of hearing loss. About 700 million of them will need to take corrective action. These trends will have a severe impact on people’s lives unless addressed, in part, by modern technology.
There are bodies of research to indicate that hearing loss can lead to social isolation. Sufferers tend to withdraw from collective situations because they can’t always make out clearly what others are saying, and when they focus on what’s going on around them, they grow fatigued from over-concentrating. In one 2016 study of adults with mild to moderate hearing loss, researchers wrote, “The most substantial consequences of hearing loss reported by the participants were activity limitations and participation restrictions.”
Furthermore, studies from around the globe have shown that social isolation can have an adverse effect on cognitive function over time. People with hearing loss not only keep to themselves, but they also volunteer less in their communities, engage less in local economies, and participate less in their spiritual wellbeing, all leading to a potential decline in cognitive abilities....
Read the full article on Healthcare Global here.
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