The S-Word
August 30, 2023
The S-Word
Technology for managing hearing loss has evolved. Talking points haven’t kept up.
Most of what I think about and write about has to do with how to better navigate the world with compromised hearing. I hope to share ways to improve our experience.
The following piece is intended for everyone in the hearing healthcare industry and those (like me) who talk about this stuff with the desire to improve the lot of the hearing impaired: Can we please dispense with the s-word? I keep bumping up against it. I am almost black and blue from bumping up against it! And I fear I am not alone in that. I think we would do well to recalibrate our language.
What am I talking about? Here are but a few samples from reputable and well-meaning sources across the spectrum from medical perspectives to industry rags to advocacy publications and general reporting.
”One of our primary goals at HLAA is for the stigma associated with hearing loss to wither away.”
— Hearing Life
January/February 2020
“Hearing aids are often prohibitively expensive… and typically aren’t covered by insurance. Other important barriers to the use of hearing aids include inadequate access to hearing health services…and concerns about social stigma and appearance."
— The New England Journal of Medicine
November 19, 2020
“No one should have to feel self-conscious about needing hearing assistance, but the stigma is real: After first experiencing hearing loss, people take an average of five to seven years to seek help, according to the Hearing Industries Association.”
— Wall Street Journal
March 27, 2021
“OTC Hearing Aids Could Help Lower Hearing Loss Stigma”
— Living With Hearing Loss
November 23, 2021
“While the FDA’s new OTC hearing aid category promises to open up a huge market opportunity by making hearing aids more accessible and affordable, there are other factors like stigma that might continue to hold people back.”
— HearingTracker
September 16, 2022
“Studies have shown that it takes up to seven years from the time someone first learns they have hearing loss to the point they purchase a hearing aid. Cost and negative stigma are often the biggest factors, say specialists.”
— Washington Post
10/16/2022
“An unfortunate stigma associated with hearing aids has deterred people away from wearing the devices over the past few decades.”
— Mass Eye and Ear Focus
5/18/2023
“In addition to the usual suspects (cost, access and stigma) it’s becoming apparent apathy and indifference drive a lot of this unmet need.”
— Hearing Health & Technology Matters
6/23/2023
In the process of trying to deal with my own hearing loss, I seek out information and maintain a “hearing” folder on my laptop. As I was thinking about writing this piece, I searched the folder for “stigma” and it delivered a list of 110 articles.
An article titled, “Stigma and Self-stigma Associated with Acquired Hearing Loss in Adults” from Hearing Review in August, 2011, states, “For a comprehensive look at social stigma and self-stigma associated with hearing loss, see Gagné et al” —referring to an article written twenty years earlier. In all, there were 44 references cited, going back as early as 1977. While it is common practice to validate statements by citing sources—as indeed, I am doing here—this practice can actually mislead us if it is not weighed against other factors that are at play.
Technology for managing hearing loss has evolved. Talking points haven’t kept up.
Even theoretically forward-thinking discourse seems to further entrench the s-word in the hearing health psyche. The podcast This Week in Hearing that premiered Jul 25, 2023 refers to the s-word a whopping 16 times in 43 minutes, while theoretically pitching s-busters. “Due to Apple’s massive size and cultural influence, they discuss how the company could positively influence societal perceptions around treating hearing loss and address stigma.”
And it’s not just in such publications/media. The s-word appears to be staunchly entrenched in how we train audiologists. Consider these continuing ed courses, currently offered on audiologyonline.com:
Consumer Factors that Influence Treatment Readiness: Addressing the Role of Stigma
Overcoming Stigma: The Role of the Professional and the Role of the Manufacturer
What is going on here? I believe we are in an s-word echo chamber.
It may be unintentional, but it is an echo chamber that shifts responsibility off the shoulders of industry and health providers and onto the persons in need of care.
Clearly, there is a lack of adoption of hearing instruments that could improve one’s ability to parse sound. I believe this sad reality is more accurately explained by unmanageable cost of healthcare and medical devices, lack of access to hearing care, and poorly fitted or clumsily designed hearing instruments. By owning and addressing these factors directly, we can eliminate the use of a term that implies that hearing loss is something to be ashamed of.
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