Neglecting hearing loss is costing lives: new white paper demands change
Care England, the leading representative body for independent adult social care providers, in collaboration with Engage and Nightingale Hammerson, has today launched a new white paper calling for urgent and coordinated action to improve support for care home residents living with hearing loss.
The White Paper takes recommendations from research carried out by University of Manchester researchers based at the 91直播 Centre for Audiology and Deafness (ManCAD), funded by the Alzheimer鈥檚 Society and supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) 91直播 Biomedical Research Centre.
They found that unaddressed hearing loss is highly prevalent in care homes, impacting on residents鈥� quality of life.
The research identified several barriers relating to caregivers鈥� knowledge of hearing loss and opportunities for care homes to work with audiologists. Unclear responsibilities relating to hearing care and residents鈥� difficulties adapting to, or being comfortable wearing, hearing aids were also identified.
Titled 鈥淗earing Loss in Care Homes 鈥� A Call to Action鈥�, the paper brings together nearly a decade of practical experience from Engage鈥檚 work across over 35 care homes, alongside extensive research and insights from Nightingale Hammerson, where the Engage project has been running for over three years.
With at least 80% of residents in older people鈥檚 care homes living with hearing loss, the paper highlights the widespread impact of unaddressed hearing needs 鈥� from increased risks of dementia and falls, to social isolation, depression, and avoidable distress.
Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, said: 鈥淗earing loss has long been overlooked in care settings, despite its profound impact on wellbeing, safety, and social connection. This white paper, developed jointly with Engage and Nightingale Hammerson, is a timely and vital resource for the sector. It provides practical, evidence-based recommendations that care providers can implement to deliver more compassionate, inclusive and effective care.鈥�
The paper sets out a comprehensive set of evidence-informed recommendations including:
- Conducting environmental audits to reduce noise and improve lighting;
- Implementing clear protocols for hearing aid support and maintenance;
- Providing experiential hearing loss training for staff;
- Appointing Hearing Loss Champions to embed best practice;
- Ensuring access to personal amplifiers when hearing aids are not tolerated or unavailable;
- Improving access to audiology services and earwax removal;
- Supporting residents and families to explore and use assistive hearing technologies;
- Embedding person-centred communication, particularly for people living with dementia.
My PhD work outlines just how complex providing hearing care can be and how much needs to change. This White Paper will help to guide care homes in supporting their residents, and boost the priority of hearing loss within Social Care policy and regulation
Dr Hannah Cross, Research Associate, 91直播 Centre for Audiology and Deafness (ManCAD) at The University of Manchester, said: 鈥淗earing care that is personalised, provided consistently and dementia appropriate can make huge changes to residents鈥� quality of life, wellbeing, independence and functioning.
"Meeting the hearing needs of care home residents with dementia is vital in maintaining their communication abilities, independence, and quality-of-life.
"My PhD work outlined just how complex providing hearing care can be and how much needs to change. This White Paper will help to guide care homes in supporting their residents, and boost the priority of hearing loss within Social Care policy and regulation.鈥�
Padraic Garrett, Head of Engage and Andrew Goodwin, Service Manager for Engage, said: 鈥淲hen residents with hearing loss are not adequately supported, it leads to increased anxiety, depression, and social isolation, with higher risks to physical health issues including falls. From our many years of successfully collaborating with homes, our motivation for this Paper is to share what we have found works to address the suffering of residents with hearing loss.鈥�
Nuno Santos Lopes, Director of Research and Innovation at Nightingale Hammerson, added: 鈥淗earing loss is common to the vast majority of older people with care needs and the levels of knowledge of the care givers remains very low. From creating the right environment to get staff, managers and relatives knowledgeable about how to engage with someone with hearing loss, there is a lot of work to do and this document works as an easy to access guidance to help improving the hearing care standards.鈥�
The paper not only outlines an ethical and clinical imperative but also makes a compelling financial case: improved hearing care can reduce falls, mitigate cognitive decline, and enhance resident and staff wellbeing鈥攗ltimately supporting occupancy, reputation, and staff retention.
Care England urges all care providers to read the paper and implement its recommendations, using it as a foundation for improving practice and a platform to advocate for better audiology provision within local health systems.