Join the 72-Hour
Hearing Aid Challenge!
Help the people in your community defeat hearing aid stigma and have better conversations about hearing!
Why We Created This Challenge
“Stigma is a false belief that disempowers people and limits their opportunities.”
— CAMERON EICHLER, Eichler Hearing Cener
The Problem
Barriers to Action…
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Some people feel hearing aids are for people who are “old” or otherwise impaired. They worry others will treat them differently.
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Hearing loss can be confusing.
People that are having trouble can hear some sounds just fine, while others (especially voices) become increasingly unclear, creating communication breakdown and frustration.
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People may see hearing aids as clunky, inconvenient, and not very helpful. They don’t realize today’s hearing aids are far more advanced than anything previous generations had access to. Far better than the best consumer audio devices.
Negative Outcomes…
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Communication breakdowns become more frequent and more frustrating for all parties involved. Saying "What, huh, what did they say?" more and more often.
People often become disconnected socially, saying “I don’t like going anymore; I don’t enjoy it.”
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People become socially disconnected, withdrawn, and start talking less. They change the way they interact with groups to avoid confusion and frustration. Friends and family are often first to notice the changes.
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1. Communication breakdown gets more frequent and more frustrating over time
4. Auditory deprivation - connection between ear and brain breaks down
5. Cognitive decline when left untreated, as one ages where hearing loss is moderately severe
Our Mission
We’re asking people in our local community who DON’T have noticeable hearing loss to simply wear advanced modern hearing aids for 72 hours and share their experience.
Break Stigma
Educating people about hearing loss and providing updated, accurate information about what today’s hearing aids are actually like can reduce the stigma that holds people back from getting help.
Educate the Community
Hearing loss is not a simple, black and white issue. Understanding the “I can hear just fine but just can’t understand the words clearly” situation that many people silently struggle with is super helpful in addressing this problem.
Empower People
Good information is empowering. The biggest thing we are hearing people say is “I had no idea…” One person can have a massive impact on significantly reducing stress and improving quality of conversations, relationships and quality of life for others.
How This Challenge Works:
1: Wear Hearing Aids for 72 Hours
Wear hearing aids for 72 hours all of your waking hours (don’t sleep or shower with them). If you lose or damage them, don’t worry, we have insurance.
2: Observe and Report
Go through your normal routine, complete a few simple assignments, and get other people’s feedback as well. Then come back in 3 days and tell us how it went.
3: Share Your Experience
Share your experience on Facebook, Instagram, or other social media channel using our hashtag (we’ll make this super easy).
#HearingAidChallenge
4: Enjoy The Rewards
Helping people have better conversations about hearing and improving their quality of life is rewarding in itself (plus it’s fun). But we also have a nice thank you gift for all our participants. Sign up to learn more!
Why Should You Get Involved?
Because you have influence, your actions (actually) make a difference.
We’re asking leaders in the community, business owners and other community leaders to be a part of the conversation with us, in hopes of better informing our community so that people don’t have to struggle as much and can have a better quality of life.
By doing this fun social experiment with us, you can help shed light on the reality of hearing loss today’s NEW hearing aids and this has a significant impact on other people’s opportunity to get help and change their lives.
