Starkey Hearing Foundation Launches Hearing Loss Prevention Campaign

Main Category: Hearing / Deafness
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 15 May 2007 - 0:00 PDT

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The Starkey Hearing Foundation, a world leader in promoting hearing health awareness, is announcing its "Don't Say What?" hearing loss prevention campaign in May for Better Hearing Month. Starkey is partnering with platinum country recording artist and three-time Grammy winner Trisha Yearwood and leading audiologist Gyl Kasewurm, AuD, FAAA, to help spread the "Don't Say What?" message and educate consumers about how to protect their hearing.

"Hearing is such a critical part of being a musician," Yearwood said. "I've seen so many great artists struggle with hearing loss that I had to be part of bringing this issue into the spotlight. No one should have to struggle to hear." Yearwood will appear in the "Don't Say What?" a regional advertising and public service announcement campaign in USA Today throughout the month of May. She and Kasewurm will serve as media spokespeople.

"People are losing their hearing two-and-a-half times faster than their parents and grandparents, due largely to sustained overexposure to loud sound," said Kasewurm, Doctor of Audiology. "And in another 40 years, nearly 50 million people in the U.S. could be hearing impaired. Those numbers are just unacceptable, especially when this type of hearing loss is largely preventable. "People simply aren't listening to audiologists when we tell them that they get one set of ears and they better protect them! That's why this campaign is so important."

Through the "Don't Say What?" program, the Starkey Hearing Foundation aims to bring one of the audiology community's most critical issues to the forefront of consumer awareness by educating them about the effects of the misuse of popular electronic devices, such as MP3 players, Bluetooth headsets and cell phones. The campaign will also address how live noise, such as amplified music at concerts and loud machinery used for road work, can impair hearing.

"The heart of our message is really, if after someone says something to you and your reaction is, 'What?,' you're in a situation that is too loud," said Bill Austin, founder and CEO of Starkey Laboratories. "Auditory health is important for everybody because overexposure to sound has become so engrained into our culture. We sit in roaring crowds during sporting events and packed stadiums to see our favorite bands play."

"Don't Say What?" is part of the Starkey Hearing Foundation's overall goal of educating the world about hearing health. The Starkey Hearing Foundation will continue its partnership with USA Today through a nationwide school program to offer information about the causes of hearing loss and steps consumers can take to protect their ears. The educational program will reach 30,000 elementary, middle and high school classrooms and 400 universities across the country.

In addition, the Starkey Hearing Foundation will partner with consumer electronics manufacturers and companies in the music, entertainment and sporting industries to bring the "Don't Say What?" message directly to consumers where they are most at risk of damaging their hearing.

For more information about the Starkey Hearing Foundation, please visit http://www.sotheworldmayhear.org. For more information about the Foundation's hearing awareness campaign, please visit http://www.dontsaywhat.org.

ABOUT THE STARKEY HEARING FOUNDATION

Founded in 1973, the Starkey Hearing Foundation is a 501(C)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization dedicated to giving the gift of hearing to the world. Through the efforts of thousands of volunteers and donors, the foundation delivers more than 200,000 hearing aids annually worldwide to those in need in nearly 100 countries around the world. It also promotes auditory health education and research to help prevent hearing impairment and one day find a way to reverse hearing loss. The Starkey Hearing Foundation is based in Eden Prairie, Minn., but works on a global level so that every child can one day hear his or her mother say, "I love you." For more information about the Starkey Hearing Foundation, please visit http://www.sotheworldmayhear.org.

Starkey Hearing Foundation
http://www.sotheworldmayhear.org

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