Every year, 3 March marks World Hearing Day – a global advocacy day for addressing challenges within hearing healthcare by sharing knowledge and raising awareness of the importance of treating hearing loss. 

On World Hearing Day, WHO (World Health Organisation) and the global hearing community use their voices to highlight the importance of hearing healthcare and caring for people living with hearing loss. In line with the official World Hearing Day 2024 theme, changing mindsets, this year, Demant focused its activities on debunking common misperceptions and barriers to addressing hearing loss.

Globally, over 80% of hearing care needs remain unmet. According to WHO, deeply ingrained societal misperceptions and misinformed mindsets are key factors that limit efforts for preventing and addressing hearing loss[1].

Expert knowledge 
Changing mindsets is crucial to improving access and mitigating the societal cost of unaddressed hearing loss[1]. On top of this, trustworthy and evidence-based information is a liable approach to counter such misperceptions.

According to Demant CEO Søren Nielsen, spreading knowledge widely is a central part of Demant’s responsibility as a global hearing healthcare company:

“World Hearing Day is an important event for Demant and this year’s focus on challenging misperceptions as barriers to addressing hearing loss aligns perfectly with our business. We are experts in what we do, and we know our users very well, so doing what we can to share this knowledge and help even more people address their hearing loss is an important part of our contribution to society,” he says. 

Debunking myths
Sound is what connects us to the world and our hearing has a direct impact on our lives and how we interact with others. Still, it can take 4-5 years to act on a hearing loss. Why is that? 

On World Hearing Day, Demant set out to challenge some of the usual misunderstandings related to hearing loss, among others through short animation videos providing strong counterarguments. Across the business areas in Demant, company brands experience different barriers posed by myths or stigma related to hearing loss. Representatives from each brand were invited to give input and contribute to the final campaign concept.

It is common to fear looking and feeling old when wearing hearing aids. This label lingers, even though most hearing aids today are barely visible and growing evidence suggests that wearing hearing aids may prevent or delay the onset and progression of cognitive health issues, such as dementia[2]. It is also often believed that due to this stigma, wearing hearing aids will exclude you from the crowd. However, when not treated properly, hearing loss has direct impact on how we interact with others, increasing the risk of social isolation and causing indirect strain on mental health and well-being.

See all the myth-busting videos on Demant's LinkedIn here:

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[1] World hearing day 2024 (https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-hearing-day/2024)

[2]  2024, Cantuaria ML, Pedersen ER, Waldorff FB, et al. Hearing Loss, Hearing Aid Use, and Risk of Dementia in Older Adults.