This month you can help to expand public awareness about hearing loss by participating in the Pennsylvania Walk 4 Hearing1 that is being held in Philadelphia on Sunday, October 22nd. If you, a friend or a loved one suffers from hearing loss you can join hundreds of other people walking to increase understanding and eliminate the stigma that surrounds hearing impairment.
The Walk 4 Hearing is also an opportunity to raise money for hearing research. Companies can sponsor the walk and teams and individuals can raise money through pledges. Fifty percent of all money raised2 goes to the Hearing Loss Association of America to support their work. The remaining 50 percent goes to the local groups that teams and individuals choose.
There is good reason to walk for hearing. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders3 (NIDCD), 30 million people in the United States aged 12 and older have hearing loss in both ears. That’s one in every eight people!
More Hearing Loss Statistics from NIDCD
- Approximately 3 out of every 1,000 children in the United States are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears.
- Approximately 15% of American adults (37.5 million) aged 18 and over report some trouble hearing.
- Age is the strongest predictor of hearing loss among adults aged 20-69, with the greatest amount of hearing loss in the 60 to 69 age group.
- Men are almost twice as likely as women to have hearing loss among adults aged 20-69.
- About 2 percent of adults aged 45 to 54 have disabling hearing loss. The rate increases to 8.5 percent for adults aged 55 to 64. Nearly 25 percent of those aged 65 to 74 and 50 percent of those who are 75 and older have disabling hearing loss.
- Roughly 10 percent of the U.S. adult population, or about 25 million Americans, have experienced tinnitus lasting at least five minutes in the past year.
In addition to the camaraderie and fundraising, the Pennsylvania Walk 4 Hearing has included another interesting component called the Hearing Loss Challenge. Walkers can pick up ear plugs at the walk and wear them as they walk the course to experience what it is like to suffer with hearing loss. You can read more and share your experience during the walk at #HearingLossChallenge.
Every day we work with people who suffer with hearing loss as we work to enhance their hearing through hearing aid technology. We support the Walk 4 Hearing and their efforts to increase awareness and remove the stigma that surrounds hearing impairment. We invite you to join the walk so that more people will learn about, and understand it. It begins at the Navy Yard on 4747 South Broad Street in Philadelphia. Registration is at 10 am and the walk begins at 11 am.
References
1: http://hlaa.convio.net/site/TR?fr_id=2433&pg=entry
2: http://hlaa.convio.net/site/DocServer/2017_Alliance_Group_Agreement_Q_A.pdf?docID=1542
3: https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/statistics/quick-statistics-hearing