Your elderly neighbor's television is quite loud and you can hear it in your apartment right across the hall. It occurs to you that, while the loud television is distracting you from your studies, it is likely that your neighbor is hard of hearing and hasn't looked into their options for minimizing the effects of hearing loss. Describe the options available to your neighbor to help with the hearing loss they are experiencing and explain how you would approach your neighbor about the topic.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Twotypesofamplificationsystemsandcochlearimplantsareoptionsforthosewhoarehavingdifficultyhearing.Theleastexpensiveandmostcommonoptionarewhatiscalledanaloghearingaids.However,theseprovidethelowestqualitysound.Digitalhearingaidsincludemicrochipsthatcanbeprogrammedfordifferenthearingsituations.Lastly,therearecochlearimplants.Thesedonotamplifysound,buta microphonetransmitssoundsto a receiverthatstimulatesauditorynervefibers.Allofthese,whilehelpfuloptionsforthoseexperiencinghearingloss,donotperfectlyduplicatetheexperienceofnormalhearing. Loss of hearing in later life can cause numerous adverse emotional reactions, such as loss of independence, social isolation, irritation, paranoia, and depression. Hearing loss may not directly affect older adults' self-concept or emotions, but it may negatively affect how they feel about interpersonal communication. Additionally, over 11% of adults with hearing loss report having experienced moderate to severe depression, so it would be important to be sensitive to your neighbor's dignity when discussing hearing loss.