On World Hearing Day every March 3, Hearing Health Foundation (HHF) joins with the global community to raise awareness of hearing loss prevention through safe listening practices.
This year HHF is launching a 60-second video to help promote a major culture shift around how we think about protecting our hearing in the same way we now routinely shield our skin from too much sun and our lungs from secondhand smoke.
We want to help make people aware that simple changes in everyday habits can have lifelong positive health effects. We can try to avoid excess noise and wear earplugs when we can’t, and be aware of our daily sound dose and ask for quieter shared public spaces.
The World Health Organization predicts that 1.1 billion young people, ages 12 to 35, are at risk of permanent hearing damage from exposure to too much noise, often in recreational settings. Illustration by Ben Radatz; photo courtesy of NOAA/NASA/Michael Benson.
Practice Safe Listening
These safe listening habits can help prevent negative health effects now and in the future. Untreated hearing loss is linked to a variety of physical and mental health issues, affecting our brain and heart and leading to feelings of depression and anxiety. Hearing loss that is unaddressed leaves us with up to a five times greater risk for dementia. It makes us more prone to falls. What’s more, while hearing loss from too much noise is cumulative and more noticeable over time, it can affect everyone of all ages including those already with a hearing loss or tinnitus.
Hearing well also means listening well, and our hope is we take the time to really hear one another.
So let’s listen up, respect our ears, and protect our hearing. We want everyone to #KeepListening, safely.
Motion Graphics Video Credits
Motion Design: Ben Radatz
Creative Director/Art: Timea Dancs
Creative Director/Editorial and Sound: Rob Grobengieser
Producers: Helen Garrett, Rob Grobengieser, Yishane Lee
Special Adviser: Sandy Alouete
Executive Producers: Helen Garrett and Yishane Lee
Sound: Heard City
Sound Designer and Voiceover: Mike Vitacco
Music: "Violet Clouds" from APM Music
Hearing Health Foundation President & CEO: Timothy Higdon
Photos: Unsplash, Pexels
Photo of Planet Earth Courtesy of NOAA/NASA/Michael Benson
Special Thanks to Steven Lawrence, April Snape, Ian Turley
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