I’ve just arrived back from Brazil where I spoke at the 2015 Rotary International Convention in Sao Paulo, about the economic and health impacts of untreated hearing loss.

As an Executive Director of the Rotarian Action Group on Hearing, I spend as much time as I can working with group members to help children and adults with hearing loss in our communities and around the world. There are many sustainable project opportunities Rotarian clubs can pursue to help reduce barriers to hearing aids and to increase hearing-health knowledge.

Barriers to hearing aids are barriers to education and employment. (My father lost his job to hearing loss, which is part of the reason I developed my hearing aid company which is built on a model that reduces common barriers to hearing aids.)

Hearing loss can be misdiagnosed as dementia in adults, and as ADD or ADHD or other learning problems in children. Like children who can’t read, students with hearing loss can easily slip through the cracks, and go years without a proper diagnosis. Untreated hearing loss can result in delayed speech and language development, and in problems with socialising. Alarmingly, studies have shown that less than 30 percent of Brazilian children with hearing loss are diagnosed by the age of two, and around 40 percent are four years or older when their hearing loss is discovered.

Research reveals that hearing impaired children are ten times more likely to be held back a grade than children with normal hearing. It is so important for those with a duty of care to consider hearing loss when diagnosing learning impairments. Hearing aids can effectively reduce barriers to education.

Ironically, low education and poverty are risk factors for hearing loss in developing countries like Brazil. People are unaware of the dangers of untreated ear infections, and Rubella and meningitis are frequently cited as the two types of infectious diseases responsible for hearing loss in Brazil.

So, what can you do to help to help reduce barriers to hearing health? Head to the Rotarians for Hearing RAG website for a list of the projects you or your rotary club can become involved in. If you have hearing aids you no longer need, Recycled Sound is a fantastic Melbourne-based organisation rehoming hearing aids to people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to obtain them.

Loud Shirt Day is coming up in October. Wear your loudest shirt and raise funds for hundreds of deaf children to receive better education and employment choices. Get your organisation, school or workplace involved. Head to http://www.loudshirtday.com.au/ to register.