A new research project is launching to tackle a long-overlooked challenge in social care: how to better support people living with both dementia and hearing loss through improved use of hearing aid technologies, staff training, and noise-aware environments.
Keith Oliver has lived with dementia for 15 years and has age-related hearing loss.
The Turn Down the Noise Project by the University of Worcester’s Association for Dementia Studies (ADS) funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) will explore how noise levels, poorly supported hearing-aid use, and a lack of staff training on hearing support, combine to make communication extremely difficult for thousands of people in the UK.
Hearing loss affects nearly 80% of people over the age of 70, yet only around 2 million of the 7 million UK residents who could benefit from hearing technologies, such as digital hearing aids or personal amplifiers, currently use them. For people with dementia, the barriers are even greater. Noisy environments, lack of staff training in care settings and limited support systems can make it difficult to use hearing technologies effectively, impacting communication, social relationships, and independence.
Keith Oliver, 70, has lived with dementia for 15 years and has age-related hearing loss. His experience demonstrates the urgent need for change.
He began noticing difficulties following conversations, but assumed it was part of his dementia.
“My wife would notice I wasn’t listening as well as I used to in conversations, and I just put it down to the dementia,” he said. “I went to the GP who referred me to an audiologist, who confirmed that as well as a problem in processing what I hear, I also have auditory loss that I hadn’t picked up on.”
Keith now wears two hearing aids and uses intense concentration to stay engaged. “I don’t read lips and I don’t know BSL, so I have to really concentrate when people are talking to me and listen really intently.”
Despite living at home, noisy places can leave him exhausted. “To shut out peripheral sound and focus on what I want to focus on is a big issue, and hearing aids don’t always help with that, I have to concentrate even more.”
Keith has been involved in previous work with the Association for Dementia Studies. He also holds an Honorary Doctorate from Canterbury Christ Church University, is an ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Society among other roles.
His mother lived in a care home with dementia, giving him first-hand insight into noise challenges.
“On busy days like birthdays, Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, it can be overwhelming. My mum used to say some residents with hearing loss would just turn their hearing aids off, or not wear them, because it became such an overwhelming environment for them.”
He adds that unchecked hearing loss has serious consequences.
“One means of keeping people out of residential care is to tackle hearing loss. It can lead to dangerous situations for people, it can impact family relationships and friendships, and it can really contribute to someone’s decline.”
Led by the University of Worcester, in collaboration with the University of Wolverhampton and social care partner Engage, the project will investigate a host of areas.
Dr Mary O’Malley, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Worcester, will co-lead the project.
She said: “I am delighted to be leading this project that will explore how to best support people with dementia and hearing loss. We want to make a positive difference to those affected by dementia and hearing loss. In the project we will explore the experiences of using hearing aid technologies by those living with dementia and hearing loss. We will also investigate how to best deliver training on hearing loss to social care staff, explore how noisy care environments are, and the impact it has on those with dementia and hearing loss.”
Keith, who will be a co-investigator on the project, said: “My driver here is that I want to offset the need for me to be admitted to residential care for as long as possible, and for me to remain independent, and inter-dependent.”
He added: “Inter-dependence is about staying connected, not isolated, and hearing loss can sometimes make that much harder. To do this, I’ll need a reasonable level of hearing.”
Padraic Garrett from Engage said: “We are delighted to provide the training component of the research project. We have been working with the care sector for over ten years, and we welcome this timely research that will investigate the efficacy of a range of environmental and care interventions.”