Hearing Loss Affects More Than You Think

A quieter problem carries loud consequences: when hearing loss goes untreated, risks rise for cognitive decline, cardiovascular strain, and falls. We pull that chain into the light and show how one change—adopting hearing technology earlier—can shift the long‑term outlook. With better devices, rising satisfaction, and less stigma, the path to clearer sound and stronger health is getting shorter and friendlier.

We walk through fresh insights from MarkeTrak 2025, including how consumers perceive prescription hearing aids, what over‑the‑counter devices get right, and where they fall short. The data is clear: satisfaction is high across the board, but loyal users value the guidance of a hearing care professional, especially for the hardest tasks—accurate assessment, the right device selection, and real troubleshooting. We explore why counseling and expectation setting matter as much as hardware, and how theory of mind helps clinicians solve problems that algorithms miss, like clarity in noise and the fatigue of constant listening effort.

Access still matters, and OTC can be a smart on‑ramp—if it connects people to support when they need it. That’s where community steps in. Friends, family, and colleagues influence the first move, while clinics can demystify the journey with quick, transparent demos of an annual hearing test. We share practical ways to normalize hearing care as part of total well‑being—physical, emotional, and mental—so taking action feels positive and routine. Ready to rethink hearing health as preventive care you can feel every day? Follow the show, share this episode with someone who needs a nudge, and leave a review to help more people find their way to better hearing.

Connect with the Hearing Matters Podcast Team

Email: hearingmatterspodcast@gmail.com

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Chapters

• 0:00 Early Adoption And Health Risks
• 1:06 Tech Progress And Positive Messaging
• 2:08 Interpreting Market Track 2025
• 3:15 OTC, Loyalty, And Satisfaction
• 4:18 Limits Of Self-Fit And Role Of Pros
• 5:19 Community Influence And Tough Tasks
• 6:45 Raising Awareness And Demystifying Tests
• 7:58 Building A Consumer Awareness Campaign

Transcript

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS : 0:00

Now, why that decrease in adoption being one year is so important is because when we talk about the comorbidities linked to untreated hearing loss, that being cognitive decline, increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and increased risk of falls. So what we're doing and what we're seeing essentially are patients adopting technology sooner. And what that tells us and shows us is we're going to fit the patient with technology, and it is our hope, and also having data and research backing this up, we can reduce the potential of said comorbidities occurring because you, as a patient, have addressed your hearing loss much sooner than waiting so long. So, what we're seeing, of course, is better technology, reduced stigma, higher adoption rate. And I mean, Bridget, you and your team are really leading so much of what is being done. That's got to be super exciting.

Bridget Dobyan: 0:58

Every part of this job is honestly incredibly exciting. There are amazing things happening in the technology. We, of course, have the ongoing data. My personal passion is the advocacy component of HI. And so being able to bring each of those, each of those elements together, and you're really weaving this narrative at the end of the day that, you know, as you take care of your hearing, it's a part of your overall health and well-being. And that's a big part of what we're incorporating into the future of the Hear Well Communications campaign as well. And, you know, I don't want to get ahead of our conversation here, but it really does flow into that. It flows into it perfectly, right? People, people don't want to be scared and they tend to not take action because they're scared. So, how are we talking about your hearing health in a positive way so that you want to have access to those healthy benefits? Again, overall well-being, you know, physical, emotional, mental health, and the way that your hearing health positively supports each of those other elements of your health.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS : 2:08

Absolutely. And goes back to our initial total health and wellness. With today's technology, with the fact that we transfer information quicker than any generation to ever exist, Bridget, as a hearing care professional, understanding and reviewing the market track data, what and how should hearing care professionals interpret the 2025 results? Like, where does what does this even suggest that we as hearing care professionals continue to do, stop doing, especially as it relates to some of the marketing and outreach?

Bridget Dobyan: 2:45

Speaking to the positive trends that we identified on the adoption side of Market Track 2025 and the positive perspectives on hearing technology and overall satisfaction with hearing technology, we see that corresponding high satisfaction with professionals continue. So with devices, it's over eight and 10 individuals are satisfied with their hearing aids or hearing technology. With professionals, it's over nine and 10. And that's been a pretty consistent number over the last few iterations of market track. And what we're seeing too is that with MT25, this was the first market track survey in the age of over-the-counter hearing aids. So we were curious about whether OTC would have any corresponding impact into the view on professionals and professional services and how that helps, you know, with the end satisfaction with the device and with treatment. And what we found is that consumers who go with a prescription hearing aid through a hearing care professional are very loyal. They will stay with that category, seeing the hearing care professional and staying with the prescription hearing aid. We also found that a significant number who went with OTC devices felt that they would have benefited from professional services as part of that journey. So you see that the hearing care professional is going to continue to be very valuable regardless of purchase pathway.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS : 4:09

You just teed me up there because again, Bridget, going back to the interview that I was talking about with Audiology Online, I talked a little bit about theory of mind and how, as humans, if you shared an experience with me, I could say, you know what? I may not have experienced that specific situation. Like when you're in a group and you can't understand everyone's talking and how that relates to presenting with untruded hearing loss and how that really frustrates patients. But I have theory of mind, and I could say, wow, I I can feel that. I could understand how you're feeling, Bridget, going into that noisy situation and feeling isolated. Well, with the dawn of AI and even the pathway as it relates to OTC hearing aids, you're self-fitting yourself. And I will say, I released an episode on OTC hearing aids last week. I am simply here to help consumers and professionals make educated decisions. If OTC is a way in which a patient is introduced to technology and then eventually takes a step towards better hearing in partnership with a professional, wonderful. But what that self-fitting model doesn't have is theory of mind, but also the counseling as you are working with the hearing care professional, making those fine-tuning adjustments. That is so exciting to me because we have millions of individuals globally who do present with hearing loss and in the United States alone, about or a little less than 20,000 hearing care professionals. That's a very interesting ratio.

Bridget Dobyan: 5:47

Yeah, and I think you bring up two really good points within, you know, everything that you just said. And part of it is community, right? So we're finding that those who go the prescription pathway or the hearing care professional to start, they're receiving advice from their friends, family, colleagues, from their community around them. You know, they're talking to each other, they look for that experience that their friends have had or that their neighbors have had, and then going along that pathway. Another component of that is what tasks are people most or least comfortable with. And this is something that Market Track looks at. And MT2025 concurred with MT 2022 in that those tasks that they're least comfortable with tend to be assessing your hearing loss, selecting a hearing aid, and then troubleshooting. And those are three areas where the hearing professional is absolutely key, right? They are primed to provide those services and that type of counseling.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS : 6:45

Thank you so much for bringing that up. Because again, as an industry, I think what hearing care professionals can continue to do, but even do better and fine-tune. And this is why we have these conversations, Bridget. I mean, you're on you're on the front lines, you have this data, you're sharing it with all the industries and you know, industry leaders. But as hearing care professionals, how can we continue to raise awareness of the importance of an annual hearing test and showing the patient what that's like? Like, I know when I get my blood pressure tested, I know the process. Oftentimes it's like, all right, you're gonna put me in this booth and you're gonna throw all these beeps out there. Well, what does that look like? But again, the power of social media of hearing care professionals today can take a great video on their iPhone, take one of their team members through the process of getting a hearing test at their office and get that out there to future patients that are coming into their clinic and just bring bring you through the process. Bridget, that's why Hearing Matters podcast started for our patients internally. I want you to hear my voice before you come in. I want to bring you through the process. So that's so exciting to hear. And I want to now lean into more of the awareness piece. So, with the consumer awareness campaign, the vision behind that initiative, I know that HIA has always done such a great job of arming hearing care professionals with social media assets.