Barbara Kelley
Executive Director
Hearing Loss Association of America.

When the producer of NPR’s syndicated radio program, The People’s Pharmacy, contacted me to come on the show and talk about overcoming hearing loss, I enthusiastically said yes. The name itself, The People’s Pharmacy, just rings friendly and practical, with medical topics reported on reliably.

The show’s hosts, Terry and Joe Graedon, have been teaching, writing and broadcasting information to help people make decisions about their health. They realize the sense in talking about hearing loss and how important it is to overall health. 

But it never fails, more often than not, I meet yet another person with hearing loss. Joe said he has a hearing loss sustained from a loud blast in his ear while wearing studio headphones years ago. Terry added that an inexperienced person inadvertently cranked the sound. Joe’s experience underscored the need to preserve and protect our hearing. Noise-induced hearing loss is 100 percent preventable and 100 percent irreversible. 1 in 5 American teenagers now has some kind of hearing loss. And these days — as we’re plugged in louder and longer — loud noise is the most common cause. Check your hearing wellness every year. Learn more at HearWellStayVital.org. 

Talking to the media, doing interviews and spreading the word that taking care of our hearing health is part of overall health, is what we do here at HLAA. We want you to have reliable information to make decisions about your hearing.

Enjoy the podcast on “Overcoming Hearing Loss” from The People’s Pharmacy. 

Barbara Kelley is the executive director of the Hearing Loss Association America.

For questions or more information, email HLAA at inquiries@hearingloss.org.