Queens Borough Hall Hosts Free Hearing Screenings for Better Hearing & Speech Month
5/8/2012 8:00:00 AM
May is Better Hearing &
Speech Month, and in recognition of the importance of this public health issue,
Queens Borough President Helen Marshall today hosted free, confidential hearing
screenings for the public in front of Borough Hall at 125-55 Queens Blvd. in
the Kew Gardens section of Queens. She was the first person screened at the Lexington Hearing &
Speech Center’s mobile testing van.
"Hearing health is often
overlooked and undervalued as a critical part of a thorough health check up. It
is extremely important that everyone have their hearing checked regularly. I want
to thank Lexington
Hearing & Speech Center for performing this critical
public service for our community,” Borough President Marshall said.
"Hearing & Speech Month
is a great time to stop and think about our hearing health. Hearing loss has
become a growing problem for the general population. Our changing lifestyles
are creating chronic, repeated exposure to elevated decibels, which increases
the risk of damage to the cochlea nerve and can lead to hearing loss over time.
A simple, painless screening is all that is needed to identify whether a
hearing loss exists. Finding the problem early gives you a much better chance
to treat it before it is exacerbated,” said Adele I. Agin, LCSW, Executive
Director, Lexington Hearing and Speech
Center.
1
in 5 Americans Have Hearing Loss
48 million Americans, or 1
in 5, have some degree of hearing loss, according to the most recent National
Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys (NHANES). The new figures are more
than double previous estimates. Among older adults reporting hearing loss,
almost half are not receiving treatment, found a 2011 poll by the American
Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and the American Speech-Language-Hearing
Association (ASHA).
"Our mobile testing van is a
small but important part of Lexington’s efforts
to provide the Queens community with the best
in audiology testing and treatment. We also invite the community to visit our
fully equipped Hearing & Speech Center in Jackson Heights, which offers one
of the most sophisticated testing and treatment capabilities in New York, under
our renowned medical director, Dr. Michael Ditkoff,” Ms. Agin said.