Hearing: why it matters more than you think

Step by step

1. 1

   Step 1: Notice the signs, since you will not hear them going

   Hearing fades so slowly that other people usually notice first. Turning the television up, asking people to repeat themselves, finding restaurants and group conversation exhausting, missing the doorbell. If your family has mentioned it more than once, they are probably right.

   Learn more: Memory and cognition: how social clubs help
2. 2

   Step 2: Take it seriously as brain care, not just convenience

   This is the part nobody is told. Untreated hearing loss is among the larger modifiable risk factors for dementia. The brain that cannot hear properly is both understimulated and working hard to fill gaps, and the person attached to it slowly stops going out.

   Learn more: Dementia: what it is, and what lowers the risk
3. 3

   Step 3: Get tested, and do not wait years

   People delay hearing aids for a decade on average, usually out of vanity or a sense that it is not bad enough yet. The brain adapts better to aids the earlier they come, so waiting makes the eventual adjustment harder rather than easier.

   Learn more: Ten essentials of healthy ageing
4. 4

   Step 4: Make conversation easier while you are at it

   Face the person speaking. Ask for the television or music to go down rather than struggling on. In a group, sit with your back to the wall and the room in front of you. None of this is defeat; it is arranging things so you can take part.

   Learn more: Meaning and belonging in healthy ageing
5. 5

   Step 5: Keep going out, especially if it has become harder

   The instinct with poor hearing is to stop attending things, and that is the outcome worth avoiding above all. Smaller groups, quieter rooms and familiar faces are all easier than a crowded hall, which is one of the arguments for a regular small club.

   Learn more: Activities at Zealver Clubs

All topics in this guide

• Dementia: what it is, and what lowers the risk
• Memory and cognition: how social clubs help
• Meaning and belonging in healthy ageing
• Activities at Zealver Clubs
• Ten essentials of healthy ageing

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