2022 NHCA Annual Virtual Conference

In 2020, the Healthy Hearing, Healthy Aging protocol and first data was presented at the NHCA Annual Conference. The goal of our project was to examine hearing and cognitive abilities in aging independent farmers and ranchers over the age of 50. Recent large-scale public health studies among elderly and middle-aged persons indicated hearing loss presents a significant and independent risk factor for the development of dementia later in life. Hearing loss prior to the age of 65 contributed an 8% risk of dementia. Covid-19 ended our face-to-face data collection. Since that time, we have developed a self-assessment survey of hearing status and the impact of hearing on communication, sleep disruption, safety on the farm, balance, falls, traumatic brain injury, and concomitant health concerns. Our survey can be completed face-to-face or through remote testing. The survey was developed to be both quick and feature key items from the 2020 Lancet report on Dementia Prevention, Intervention and Care, and the NIOSH Worker Well-being Questionnaire. Our revised Covid-19 protocol will be implemented in the fall 2021 at various agricultural fairs in central Nebraska. Our preliminary findings will be reported as well as future modifications needed to comply with the Covid-19 pandemic precautions.