In this interview, Ear, Nose, and Throat Surgeon Dr. Sreek Cherukuri, discusses the heightened challenges of hearing loss for seniors during holiday gatherings.
He notes that hearing loss is prevalent among older adults, affecting 1 in 3 people over 65, and shares insights on how to make holiday experiences more inclusive for those with hearing difficulties.
Dr. Cherukuri emphasizes the importance of clear communication, strategic seating arrangements, and the use of hearing aids or new hearing devices like the ClearCast PAL, an FDA-registered personal listening device designed to enhance the hearing experience during conversations and other activities.
This conversation offers practical advice for improving holiday gatherings for individuals with hearing impairments, ensuring they can participate more fully and enjoy the festivities.
Interviewer: Hearing loss is challenging any time of year, but especially during the holiday season. Older relatives with hearing impairments often have a difficult time hearing conversation at dinner and participating in other holiday festivities. Dr. Sreek Cherukuri, an ear, nose and throat doctor, is here with us this morning to discuss ideas to help improve the holiday experiences for everyone.
Transcription
Dr. Cherukuri, thank you so much for joining us.
Dr. Sreek Cherukuri: Thank you for having me.
Interviewer: Of course. So, can you explain why hearing difficulties can be especially challenging for seniors during holiday gatherings?
Dr. Sreek Cherukuri: Well, it’s important to know that as we get older, hearing loss becomes more prevalent. It’s 1 in 3 people over 65.
That increases to 1 in 2 people over 75 percent of people over 85. Holiday time is when the extended families often get together. A lot of people talking at the same time and it can be very challenging for somebody with hearing difficulty.
Interviewer: Sure, and what are some of the common signs or symptoms of hearing loss that family members and friends should watch out for in their older loved ones?
Dr. Sreek Cherukuri: Well, the very basic people asking to repeat themselves or maybe answering the wrong question. But a lot of times, my family especially, they’ll just nod without really understanding the question. Yes, no, I’ve definitely gotten that before too.
Interviewer: In those cases, what do you do there?
Dr. Sreek Cherukuri: Yeah, so a little bit of preparation could really make it much more enjoyable for the seniors with hearing loss.
So one thing is speak clearly and slowly. That’s something we learned as doctors to do from medical school.
Number two is, you know, face the person. They can lip read and get context clues. Another thing to think about is dinner table seating. positioning. If you’re at the middle of the table, you’re going to hear a lot of noise from both sides, but maybe put the senior with the hearing challenges on the end of the table.
They would only hear the people near them, but it’s certainly less confusing
Interviewer: Away from all the kids, right? You don’t want to put them next to the loud kids.
Dr. Sreek Cherukuri: That would be challenging. But then, you know, if they have hearing aids, make sure they’re using them. And if they don’t have hearing aids or they tried areas, there are new devices on the market that can really help these people in these exact situations.
Interviewer: Yeah, and that kind of goes into my next question. Are there any devices or technologies that can enhance the hearing experience?
Dr. Sreek Cherukuri: Right. So again, if they have hearing aids, they should use them, but but there’s a new product on the market. It’s an FDA registered personal assistive listening device.
It’s called ClearCast and if I can show it to you It’s something like this you wear it around your neck. So it’s much more like reading glasses or cheaters for your ears. You can put the earbuds in. And the reason this helps is it has two microphones. One on the device. And then an external microphone.
Interviewer: Oh, wow.
Dr. Sreek Cherukuri: You can put this at the dinner table and they would hear the sound coming from the microphone. You can use it for one on one conversations. You can put the microphone next to the television. They could hear the family movie or the TV crystal clear, like it’s going right into their ear.
Interviewer: Wow.
Dr. Sreek Cherukuri: Certainly increases their participation and their enjoyment of the holiday conversation.
Interviewer: That’s amazing. Where can people go to learn more information about that?
Dr. Sreek Cherukuri: So this product is called ClearCast. It’s at clearcasthearing. com.
Interviewer: All right. Thank you so much, Dr. Cherukuri. I mean, this is like you said, it can be a certainly challenging time, especially during the holidays for older loved ones so definitely some awesome advice. And thank you so much. We appreciate you.
Dr. Sreek Cherukuri: Thank you and happy holidays. Happy holidays.