Daniel and Majella O’Donnell are fronting Ireland’s Campaign for Better Hearing, part of a global movement focused on the power of sound to enrich lives, which was launched at Dundrum Town Centre in Dublin recently.
Backed in Ireland by Hidden Hearing, the campaign is designed to encourage over-fifties to test their hearing.
Daniel O’Donnell said we should not take for granted the pure enjoyment of social interaction, of entertainment like music or TV, and the simple boost that sounds of nature or friends and family laughing brings.
“Chatting to the neighbours, enjoying a concert or play, or simply hearing the world go by outside is significant to our wellbeing," he said. "One in five Irish people over the age of 50 actually suffers from hearing loss, so the call is for everyone to test their ears at 50 years.”
Free hearing testing is available in the 75 state-of-the-art Hidden Hearing clinics throughout the island of Ireland, as part of the campaign. Education and information in relation to prevention and treatment, as well as hearing aid technology, is also part of the year-long hearing health campaign.
With early detection the impacts of hearing loss can be mitigated, and the lives of hearing impaired individuals, and those around them, greatly improved, Majella O’Donnell explained.
“I know from personal experience that it is important to preserve your hearing, because untreated hearing loss can only make the problem worse, and sooner. Life is worth hearing, so book a free check-up with Hidden Hearing,” she said.
Majella O’Donnell wears a hearing device in one ear and still lives her busy life to the full, which is the message the Campaign for Better Hearing wants to get out there.
Around 86 per cent of hearing loss in Ireland is untreated, for various reasons; an element of which is the perceived stigma at wearing a hearing device.
In the region of 100,000 people may be risking the knock-on physical and psychological impacts of untreated hearing loss, which recent research has shown to include social isolation, depression, dementia, diminished heart health, and stroke.
Bananas provide potassium which is good for hearing health, although according to Hidden Hearing marketing director, Dolores Madden, more than half the population between the ages of 60 and 80 are likely to have measurable hearing loss.
The Campaign for Better Hearing aims to inform and educate Irish people about hearing health and the dangers of untreated hearing loss, and provide free hearing tests to every Irish person at 50 years and over.
More information on Ireland’s Campaign for Better Hearing is available on www.hiddenhearing.ie or www.campaignfor betterhearing.ie.
To book in for your hearing test in Hidden Hearing Galway call 091 539 230 or visit www.hiddenhearing.ie
