How many people do we see a day with high frequency hearing loss due to noise exposure (noise notch!)? Hearing conservation is not taken seriously enough, and those who expose themselves to noise routinely are experiencing it's wrath! This blog is based on an article "Hearing Conservation in Hunter Education Programs" written by Dr. Charles M. Woodford (formerly a West Virginia University professor in the audiology department) and Dr. Norman J. Lass (currently a West Virginia University professor). This article dealt mostly with determining how much hearing conservation is preached in hunter education programs in the United States and Canada. A questionnaire was sent out to all hunter education directors in all 50 states and 12 Canadian provinces. The studied showed that the directors who teach these education programs, mostly, have not been properly trained. Only 87% actually provide hearing conservation details in their training programs. The study also showed that there is little information on hearing conservation in hunter education training manuals. The authors of the work suggest a training session for these hunter education directors to be completely aware of hearing conservation so as to provide this information to their students (hunters.)
I actually went on the West Virgina DNR website to see if I could find anything about hearing conservation in education courses, but not to my surprise, I found nothing. West Virginia is a popular hobby of youth and adults in West Virginia. I do not believe that hunters realize the effect that hearing loss can have on their lives. They stick to the here and now, hunt as they wish with no hearing protection, and suffer later. I know a family from "back hills West Virginia" that has at least six members who hunt. All of them are over age 40, and all of them have hearing loss to the extent that it affects their communication. When I mention hearing protection to them concerning their hunting habits, they act like it won't really help. They also don't believe that their hearing loss comes from their hunting habits. From this experience, I believe ignorance is bliss for many. Education is the best way to reach these folks, and as an audiologist, it is our job to be the educators. Hopefully, with all the Baby Boomers living to be very old, the necessity for hearing conservation will be visible, not only to audiologists, but to others.
Here is the link for the West Virgina DNR:
http://www.wvdnr.gov/
The following website is through Cabelas. They offer many forms of hearing protection.
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/index/index-display.jsp?id=cat20801&navAction=jump&navCount=1&cmCat=MainCatcat20712&parentType=category&parentId=cat20712
Reference:
Woodford, C.M. & Lass, N.J. (1994, July). Hearing conservation in hunter education programs. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
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12 comments:
I agree with everything you said Gina! I think one of the main problems audiologists face concerning hearing conservation is the lack of understanding that people have about NIHL. Many people that have talked to about NIHL don't realize that even thought they though they may hear fine now and do not use hearing protection, this type of loss is so gradual, it takes a long time to realize the extent of the loss! When people finally realize that their noise exposure is damaging their hearing, there is nothing that can be done about it. I think that it is sad that NIHL is the second most common type of loss, since its 100% preventable! Good article!
Great blog! I hope you'll consider adding it to the aggregator at Deaf Village (www.deafvillage.com) -- we'd love to have you as part of our community!
Enjoying your blog, though it's going to take a while to read through the archive.
If you want to remember the heady days of studenthood, I'm keeping an audiology blog too.
http://audiologistjohn.blogspot.com
Well written Gina. I think everyone should be aware of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss so we can prevent it. Thank you for sharing this article.
Brian
Audiology nj
Linds makes a great point and echos many of the thoughts on my site www.hearingaids1000.com. The biggest challenge on all of medicine and certainly in the world of hearing loss, denial and lack of understanding is the primary culprit. No one wants to admit they have a hearing loss issue and they don't realize how much better their life (and those of their loved ones) can be if they attacked the issue and dealt with it.
HI Gina,
I love you blog. It would also be great to have you as a member of www.ZipAud.com. Please have a look when you get a chance.
cheers
Maree
Gina,
I hope you're still checking back with your blog. I have a collaboration proposal that I think would fit your skills well. Please email me jcrowley at alliancehealth dot com
I am the Director of Communities for Alliance Health. You can check out what we're doing in building empowering patient communities by visiting http://www.diabeticconnect.com
I wish that I can join that conversation. I am so sure that it is going to be fun to be a part of that event.
hearing device Royal Oak MI
Construction workers wear protection as do hunters, but often they forget about ear protection. Hear Florida Audiology Group often works with patients who suffer from preventable hearing loss. For more information on prevention you can visit www.hearflorida.com
Wow, nice article, I think This blog is based on an article "Hearing Conservation in Hunter Education Programs.I agree with everything you said,The studied showed that the directors who teach these education programs, mostly, have not been properly trained. Only 87% actually provide hearing conservation details in their training programs. The study also showed that there is little information on hearing conservation in hunter education training manuals. The authors of the work suggest a training session for these hunter education directors to be completely aware of hearing conservation so as to provide this information to their students.
audiologist
Congratulations for posting such a useful blog. Your blog isn’t only informative but also extremely artistic too. They stick to the here and now, hunt as they wish with no hearing protection, and suffer later. I know a family from "back hills West Virginia" that has at least six members who hunt. All of them are over age 40, and all of them have hearing loss to the extent that it affects their communication. When I mention hearing protection to them concerning their hunting habits, they act like it won't really help. They also don't believe that their hearing loss comes from their hunting habits. There usually are extremely couples of individuals who can write not so easy articles that creatively. Keep up the good writing! Thanks for sharing with us.
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