Hearing Loss: Stand Up And Be Counted

It is exciting to see hearing loss getting more attention. I recently wrote about the groundbreaking report from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) which declared hearing loss “a significant public health concern” and made a series of recommendations for “institutional, technological and regulatory change to enable consumers to find and fully use the appropriate, affordable, and high-quality services, technologies, and support they need.” You can read that post here.

Several members of the NAS report team were at the most recent HLAA Convention, and each encouraged the sponsors of the report to work together to spur action. “Without implementation of the recommendations,” one of the NAS team commented, “the report is not worth much more than the paper it is written upon.” I left the Convention feeling a growing sense of urgency from the attendees as well as the leaders in the industry that now is the time to make change happen.

I am happy to see Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) taking a first step to raise awareness of these issues with a petition at change.org entitled “People with Hearing Loss: Join HLAA in the Fight for Affordable Hearing Health Care.” 

Now it is up to those of us with hearing loss to stand up and be counted. I encourage you to sign the petition to show support for more affordable hearing health care. You can also leave a comment on the site to explain why this issue is important to you. Please share the link with others who might want to sign too.

There is strength in numbers. Let’s show ours. Sign the petition here.

Thank you for taking the time to stand up and be counted.