<
https://theconversation.com/hearing-loss-is-twice-as-common-in-australias-lowest-income-groups-our-research-shows-223979>
"Around one in six Australians has some form of hearing loss, ranging from mild
to complete hearing loss. That figure is expected to grow to one in four by
2050, due in a large part to the country’s ageing population.
Hearing loss affects communication and social engagement and limits educational
and employment opportunities. Effective treatment for hearing loss is available
in the form of communication training (for example, lipreading and auditory
training), hearing aids and other devices.
But the uptake of treatment is low. In Australia, publicly subsidised hearing
care is available predominantly only to children, young people and
retirement-age people on a pension. Adults of working age are mostly not
eligible for hearing health care under the government’s Hearing Services
Program.
Our recent study published in the journal
Ear and Hearing showed, for the
first time, that working-age Australians from lower socioeconomic backgrounds
are at much greater risk of hearing loss than those from higher socioeconomic
backgrounds.
We believe the lack of socially subsidised hearing care for adults of working
age results in poor detection and care for hearing loss among people from
disadvantaged backgrounds. This in turn exacerbates social inequalities."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
