Raising awareness about Safe Listening
Unsafe recreational listening practices contribute to hearing damage or deafness among people of all ages. World Hearing Day 2022 highlights the importance of safe listening.
“To hear for life, listen with care” is the theme of this year’s campaign, seeking to raise awareness about how to prevent deafness and hearing loss, including the importance of mitigating exposure to loud sounds.
“Safe listening” can reduce the risk of hearing loss associated with recreational sound exposure. As a framework for health promotion actions, “safe listening” ensures that sound-related recreational activities including concerts, nightclubs, and listening to music, broadcasts, or podcasts do not pose a risk to hearing.
Over one billion people are at risk of hearing loss and the World Health Organization (WHO) aims to combat these risks by urging people to change their listening practices and behaviors.
The WHO launched the World Report on Hearing in 2021 that highlighted the significant increase in the number of people living with and at risk of hearing loss. The report also stressed the importance of mitigating exposure to loud sounds and noise control interventions.
World Hearing Day 2022 is promoting safe listening through the following key messages:
- It is possible to have good hearing across the life course through ear and hearing care
- Many common causes of hearing loss can be prevented, including hearing loss caused by exposure to loud sounds
- ‘Safe listening’ can mitigate the risk of hearing loss associated with recreational sound exposure
- WHO calls upon governments, industry partners, and civil society to raise awareness for and implement evidence-based standards that promote safe listening
While safe listening is a means of maintaining good hearing across one’s life, Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) can help treat people suffering from language, speech, and hearing disorders.
Our Speech-Language Pathology course develops knowledge related to the rehabilitation and treatment of various pathologies and disorders that can impact communication.
This course uses learning resources from accredited, world-class organizations such as the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), Life-Changing Speech Therapy, the Speech Pathology Graduate Programs, the Mayo Clinic Foundation for Medical Education and Research, the American Speech and Hearing Association, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
This Speech-Language Pathology course synthesizes the educational and professional requirements to specialize and operate within the bounds of speech-language pathology and audiology.
Register to learn the basic concepts of speech, language, and hearing impairment and communication disorders across the lifespan.