Are We Listening?

By Anthony Quinn
President, CARP

There is some encouraging news in the long and difficult conversation about dementia: some of the risk is within our control.

We can look after our hearts, build muscle, stay active, remain socially connected, get proper sleep and pay attention to our hearing.

So, are we listening?

I mean that both ways. Are we hearing what the research is telling us? And are we willing to admit when our own hearing is slipping?

Most of us know the small accommodations. We turn up the television. We blame the acoustics in the restaurant. We miss the punchline and nod along, ask people to repeat themselves or pretend we caught what a grandchild said.

Because hearing loss usually arrives gradually, it is easy to put off dealing with it. A few months become a few years.

We can no longer treat that delay as harmless.

At a June 10, 2026 Johns Hopkins media briefing on dementia and brain health, epidemiologist Jennifer Deal explained that hearing loss is not simply a matter of volume. It affects clarity. You may hear a person speaking but have trouble separating the words.

She also said public-health studies show that hearing loss changes the brain and is consistently linked to a higher risk of dementia over time. It may affect the brain directly, make thinking more difficult and gradually cut people off from conversation and social life.

The Johns Hopkins-led ACHIEVE study found that the participants who entered the study with more risk factors for cognitive decline, the rate of decline was 48 per cent lower in the group that received hearing aids, counselling and continuing support.

The same study found that hearing treatment improved communication and reduced loneliness and social isolation. Those are worthwhile outcomes on their own. They also help people remain engaged with family, friends and community — the very connections we want to preserve as we age.

Protect it

Many CARP members spent years ignoring or abusing their hearing. From rock concerts to noisy work environments.. not to mention the car stereos and headphones, and, more recently, earbuds. Blasting music directly into our ears for decades was probably not our wisest collective decision.

We cannot undo yesterday’s exposure, but we can stop adding to it.

Wear earplugs at concerts and sporting events. Use proper hearing protection with power tools, lawn mowers and other loud equipment. Lower the volume in your headphones. Move away from speakers. Give your ears a break after prolonged noise.

Protect the hearing you still have.

Test it

A hearing test should be a routine part of looking after our health.

Book one even if you don’t think you need it.

If you regularly ask people to repeat themselves, have difficulty following conversation in restaurants, hear voices without being able to make out the words, or keep the television louder than everyone else would like… that’s your body telling you, so listen to it – and don’t wait for your family to stage an intervention.

A hearing test gives you a baseline and tells you what you are dealing with. Sometimes the problem is mild. Sometimes it needs professional treatment. Either way, knowing is better than guessing.

Sudden hearing loss, continuing ear pain, ringing in one ear or rapidly worsening hearing should be assessed promptly by a hearing professional or primary-care provider.

Supplement it

When hearing begins to fade, use the help that is available.

That may mean professionally fitted hearing aids. For adults with mild to moderate hearing loss, it may also include a safe, approved over-the-counter device.

For many people, cost and complexity have turned a treatable health problem into something they simply live with.

CARP has been pressing provincial governments to modernize  rules, and this week we had an important win.

On June 17, British Columbia became the first province or territory in Canada to allow adults with mild to moderate hearing loss to purchase Health Canada-approved hearing aids without a prescription. They can be sold through retail stores and online.

British Columbia deserves credit for moving.

Now the other provinces need to catch up.

Ontario launched a consultation on April 28, but a consultation is only a beginning. Current Ontario rules still require hearing aids to be prescribed by a regulated health professional. CARP wants the government to complete the regulatory work and give Ontarians access to approved over-the-counter options.

My plea to CARP members

Dementia leaves many families feeling that events are beyond their control. Research is now identifying practical steps that may help us push back against some of that risk.

Hearing health is one of them.

Be careful around loud noise. Get your hearing tested. Use hearing aids or other appropriate technology when you need them. Help a spouse, parent or friend who may be struggling but reluctant to admit it.

And ask your provincial government why safe, approved over-the-counter hearing aids are available in British Columbia but not yet across Canada.

We have heard enough to act.

I hope you will book that hearing test. CARP will keep working to make the next steps easier.