About Hearing Aid Malaysia

Facts about deafness and hearing loss

According to World Health Organization (WHO), "360 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss." It is also found that approximately one third of people over the age of 65 years old are affected by disabling hearing loss.

Over 5% of the world’s population – 360 million people – has disabling hearing loss (328 million adults and 32 million children). Disabling hearing loss refers to hearing loss greater than 40dB in the better hearing ear in adults and a hearing loss greater than 30dB in the better hearing ear in children. The majority of these people live in low- and middle-income countries. (WHO, Fact Sheet)

Looking at the fact sheet from WHO, we are amaze of a large number "32 million who suffers from disabling hearing loss are children". I can't imagine 32 million suffers from disabling hearing loss. This is a serious matter for all to take note and to be aware of.

What will the Impact of hearing loss be?

We will  be looking at 3 impacts of hearing loss.

1. Functional Impact 

Here's a simple illustration of communication - the SMCR model

Sender --> Message --> Channel --> Receiver 

Imagine the process of communication begins from Sender towards the receiver. Imagine the receiver has hearing loss or hearing problem, if a person who is a sender speaks to the receiver verbally, communication will not take place effectively.

Why?

Because when  the sender speaks to the receiver face to face, the receiver who has hearing problem may not be able to listen effectively to what the sender is saying. This will caused a lot of misunderstanding and miscommunication.

Hearing loss and ear diseases such as otitis media can have a significantly adverse effect on the academic performance of children. However, when opportunities are provided for people with hearing loss to communicate they can participate on an equal basis with others. The communication may be through spoken/ written language or through sign language.  

                                                                                                          (WHO, Fact Sheet)

Next we will look at how hearing loss impacts our social and emotional path.

2. Social and emotional impact

Limited access to services and exclusion from communication can have a significant impact on everyday life, causing feelings of loneliness, isolation and frustration, particularly among older people with hearing loss. If a person with congenital deafness has not been given the opportunity to learn sign language as a child, they may feel excluded from social interaction.

 (WHO, Fact Sheet)

Not only hearing loss impacts its function, but it also impacts the society, can you imagine one day everyone has hearing loss, can they communicate properly? Hearing loss also impacts the area of emotional. This is where loneliness, frustration and isolation kicks in. Next we will see how hearing loss impacts the economy.

3. Economical Impact

In developing countries, children with hearing loss and deafness rarely receive any schooling. Adults with hearing loss also have a much higher unemployment rate. Among those who are employed, a higher percentage of people with hearing loss are in the lower grades of employment compared with the general workforce. Improving access to education and vocational rehabilitation services, and raising awareness especially among employers, would decrease unemployment rates among adults with hearing loss. 

In addition to the economic impact of hearing loss at an individual level, hearing loss substantially affects social and economic development in communities and countries.

                                                                                                          (WHO, Fact Sheet)
We begin today by looking at the number of people suffering from hearing loss, then we learnt about how hearing loss impacts the 3 areas above. Now I wish to bring you to prevention.

"Prevention is always better than cure." this is the ultimate theme for this blog where we focus a lot on solution to hearing loss and to motivate and encourage hearing loss patience to continue seeking treatment or hearing aid.

As a hearing aid provider Malaysia, we are committed to help you out. 

Here's a little about Hearing Aid Blog Spot.

Hearing Aid Blog Spot was created to create awareness of the area of hearing loss, where there are problems, there must be a solution to it. Hence this blog serves as a learning ground for all of us to share our problems, share our experiences on hearing loss. You will also get introduce to various hearing aids available in the market that can help you gain the ability to hear. 

We Best Hearing Aid Centre is glad to help you out. 

Welcome once again to Hearing Aid Blog Spot

Best Hearing Aid Centre ~ Better hearing, Better Living