Hearing loss groups: How can they help you?

When diagnosed with hearing loss, people need all the support they can get from all sorts of areas.

Not only do audiologists and professionals need to help, as well as friends and family, but there also needs to be a good level of understanding from others in day-to-day life too.

Facilities have a requirement to ensure things are in place to help those who suffer from hearing loss but many patients also find it invaluable to attend groups and meetings with fellow digital hearing aid wearers.

These can take place at community centres, churches or in some cases, where groups are based around a certain neighbourhood, in residents' homes.

At these groups, people have a chance to speak to other people who are going through the same experience and using them for support and the exchange of ideas.

Being able to talk things through with people who have gone through, or are going through, hearing loss can be extremely beneficial for people and it's well worth doing some research as to whether there are such groups in your local area.

Take for example, the group of deaf tenants who live at various Salix Homes properties who have formed a group to help improve their members' lives.

Those within the group range in age from their 30s to their 60s but they have a common aim of seeking to make staff deaf aware to ensure deaf people can access all the services that are available to them.

Joanne Slater, community involvement and new initiatives officer at Salix Homes, said: "Deaf people can’t just make a phone call or pop into the office if they have a problem, so we wanted to make sure that they too had access to housing services.

"We believe we have started something very special here. The group has revolutionised the way deaf people access services and it’s wonderful to see them celebrate their first year."

These groups are tried and tested by many of our patients and can be a big help, so why not see if there are any close to you?