Helix Hearing Care Centre and RA Centre host Healthy Aging Day

Oct 28 2009

Helix Hearing Care Centre, The Senior Citizens Council of Ottawa, and the RA Centre hosted a Healthy Aging Day on Monday, where a capacity crowd of golden agers gathered to find out more about healthy hearing.

Kathleen Gottfried, the Senior Citizens Council of Ottawa's Executive Director, declared the event a "huge educational success." There was a "good vibe in the air, a real buzz," said Kathleen, after explaining that the attendees were inspired and could relate to the event's speakers. Arran McAfee, Chief Audiologist at the Ottawa Hospital, spoke about denial surrounding hearing loss. As he explained his study, Kathleen noticed heads nodding in agreement and turning to each other in the crowd as they all related to his expression and advice regarding Canadian's denial of their hearing loss. "This does not surprise me," said Helix's President and CEO, Jeff Geigel. "Only 20% of Canadians with treatable hearing loss take advantage of corrective measures that can bring a true change to their lives. Sometimes they need an expert to vocalize how much their lifestyle would improve if they could hear properly."

Apart from an excellent lunch and a few words from the crowd favourite and local weather man JJ Clarke, attendees took advantage of hearing assessments and tests, hearing aid cleanings and testing, and most importantly, the presence of Helix's hearing healthcare professionals who relentlessly answered questions concerning individual hearing concerns.

"My family told me I don't like to listen," declared one of the attendees. "That's why I came here today." After performing hearing assessments all day, it was discovered that the great majority of seniors present had medium to bad hearing. This is an important factor to consider since the National Council on Aging found that those with untreated hearing loss can experience higher rates of depression, anger, paranoia, and other emotional and psychological distresses compared to those who have sought correction of their hearing problems.

Source: LIFESTYLE HEARING CORPORATION