World Hearing Day was March 3, and Magnolia’s Beauport Hearing Care took to heart this year’s theme: “Changing mindsets: Empower yourself to make ear and hearing care a reality for all!”
So this Friday, Magnolia’s Beauport Hearing Care will host the first of a series of free seminars devoted to doing encourage proactive ear and hearing health for everyone.
This one will focus on strategies for better social communications. It starts at 10:30 a.m. at the nearby Innovation House, includes lunch, and will be helmed by David Bergeron, who with his wife Judith Bergeron, has grown Beauport Hearing Care into a state-of-the-art resource concierge resource serving thousands of Cape Anners.
Hearing health is not, says David Bergeron, top of mind when most people think of wellness priorities. But it should be, now more than ever because hearing impairment is not just rising but exploding on a global scale.
“It’s going to catch people by surprise,” Bergeron says.
The statistics speak loud and clear. In 2019, there were more than 140 million cases of hearing loss worldwide, a 93.89% increase from 70 million cases in 1990. The age-standardized rate (ASR) also increased with an estimated annual percentage change of 0.08% per year.
The reasons are many. People are living longer, and the longer they live, the more likely they are to develop hearing problems. But also, and importantly, the world is getting louder, and the louder it gets, the more the human ear is challenged. A younger, ear-pod wearing generation gets its music pumped at a damaging volume directly into the ear; also, younger people speak faster, especially in the fast-paced corporate workplace, creating a generational gap between older and younger workers.
And it’s not just the hearing impaired who need help. An estimated 29% of the U.S. population provide care for the elderly population, the majority of which is hearing impaired. Communication is vital to this relationship, and strategies and tips can be life-saving.
Audiology — the branch of science devoted to hearing — has kept pace with the changes, and as an audiologist who’s been deaf since she was a teenager, Judith Bergeron brings invaluable insights and tips to her practice. Although she herself will not be present at Friday’s seminar, those insights and tips will be all over the morning’s program, which will be hosted by Judith Bergeron’s son, Trevor Kaity, whose experience as the child of a deaf parent has led him to join his mother in a career in hearing health.
Like all wellness practices, hearing health begins with lifestyle. Most people do not know, for instance, that a Mediterranean diet will reduce the risk of hearing impairment by 20%, or that there are strategies for dealing with tinnitus or balance issues caused by ear damage. That and a wealth of other strategies await the listener at Friday’s seminar. There are, David Bergeron says, just four openings left, and registration is required, but if you act quickly and call 978-525-2300, “we just may have a seat for you.” says Bergeron.
If you miss Friday’s series launch, a second session with the same content is scheduled for Thursday, April 24, 6:30 p.m., at the Wenham Community House, 284 Bay Road (Route 1A), in South Hamilton. Pre-registration is requested by calling 978-525-2300.
Other seminars, all free, are being planned.
Also May is Better Hearing Month. Beauport Hearing Care is hosting a Tea Social & Open House at the clinic, 8 Lexington Ave. from 4 to 5 p.m. May 6 and 20, and June 3 and 17. Anyone is welcome to come for an informal visit. Enjoy some tea, socialize and have questions about hearing answered or talk about the Red Sox.