Not just an ‘older person’s illness’: World Hearing Day event in Edmonton offers hearing loss, health resources

The Canadian Hard of Hearing Association hosted free hearing tests, lectures and provided educational materials for Edmontonians.

An Edmonton group is looking to remind everyone that hearing loss is something many people will eventually experience in their lives – sometimes sooner rather than later.

The Canadian Hard of Hearing Association’s city branch hosted its hearing health fair at the Jerry Forbes Centre on Tuesday in conjunction with World Hearing Day.

The day is a campaign held on March 3 of each year by the World Health Organization to raise awareness on preventing deafness and promoting ear and hearing care.

Edmonton’s event included free hearing tests and hourly lectures on topics like speech reading, cognitive and mental health, tinnitus management and emerging therapies for those with hearing loss.

Organizer Cindy Gordon says these kinds of events remove accessibility barriers and show people they’re not alone.

“The main goal today is to learn that there is support out there. It’s not as hard as they think, there are many people affected by hearing loss. There’s more than 100,000 in Edmonton. It’s the number one disability in Canada,” she said.

She added that the group is working to change the narrative on hearing loss being an “older person’s illness.”

“Noise is the number one culprit. We have more people affected with hearing loss because we live in a noisy environment,” she said. “So we really need to get the information out with respect to why this is happening, and how to protect younger generations.”

The association also provides year-round supports like speech reading and sign language classes.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Dave Mitchell