World Hearing Day 2024: Making ear, hearing care a reality for all!

Sometimes mindsets can be so fixed and permeate various aspects of our lives that it is difficult to change.

However, when we have fixed mindsets it can sometimes stall our development as a society.

Having a growth mindset gives us the potential for development in all aspects of our lives, including our attitudes towards various disabilities.

Ear and hearing care in Ghana has recently gained attention in the health space in Ghana.

Hearing loss is an invisible disability that is often associated with stigma in society.

 Now more than ever, disability is not only caused by biological issues but societal structures which limit people from achieving their full potential.

 Some of these social barriers include stigma, ridicule and limiting mindsets held by people around us.

Until recently, hearing loss had not received much attention in the health sector in Ghana.

Many people with hearing loss have had to forego their ambitions and dreams due to the stigma and discrimination associated with it.

This calls for a change in mindset to enable people with hearing loss have a good quality of life.

Global trend

According to the World Health Organisation, over 1.5 billion people globally are affected by hearing loss. However, those that could benefit from hearing care are less than 20 per cent.

This means over 80 per cent of people with hearing loss who could benefit from hearing care do not get the help they need.

This year’s theme for World Hearing Day focuses on shifting mindsets to make hearing care a reality for this percentage of people.

So how do we make this a reality?

As mentioned earlier, some key barriers to receiving hearing and ear care is the stigma, outdated mindsets and labels such as ‘deaf and dumb’, as well as discrimination associated with it.

 Another such barrier includes the lack of available services in Ghana, compared to other countries.

Persons with hearing difficulties and ear disease thus face limitations caused by the society and country they live in, leading to issues with communication and social integration. 

Changing mindset

To change society’s mindset about hearing loss and ear disease, there is the need for awareness and advocacy.

Awareness raising involves informing and educating society about hearing difficulties and ear disease.

It also includes raising awareness that ear diseases have solutions and individuals have options, even if those options are limited.

Some of these options include hearing aids, cochlear implants, Ear Nose Throat (ENT) treatments, to mention a few. 

Awareness helps to bust myths and untrue beliefs that have long persisted.

Society can only do better if they have adequate knowledge which can only be achieved via awareness raising.

Health professionals and government can create awareness via both print and electronic media.

Television and radio stations can contribute significantly to create awareness and advocate for better treatment of persons with hearing difficulties and ear disease..

It’s even better that the recent use of the local languages by radio and television across the country, which is far reaching, can help change society’s mindset about hearing loss and ear disease.

Accessibility of information via the internet is another way of gaining information about hearing loss and ear disease.

 Each of us has a responsibility in making the shift or change in mindset to make ear and hearing care a reality.

The writers are Speech and Language Therapists/Clinical tutors, University of Ghana.