Hearing Matters Podcast

Hearing Loss and Dementia: Understanding the Link, Restoring Hope

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Dementia is rising, and the toll is personal, social, and economic. From there, we move into a conversation that blends hard data with real life—how hearing loss can quietly erode connection, increase cognitive load, and, according to leading research, contribute to higher dementia risk. Karla Hult joins us with her father’s story—an athlete, a community helper, a devoted dad whose final years were shaped by Alzheimer’s—and shows how love, grief, and action can coexist without false hope.

We break down what the science actually says. The Lancet Commission identifies hearing loss as a leading midlife, modifiable risk factor for dementia. The ACHIEVE study adds nuance: while not all participants saw cognitive gains, a high‑risk subgroup (older adults with cardiovascular risk) experienced significant preservation across cognitive measures when using hearing aids. Everyone, though, benefited socially—less loneliness and richer networks—reminding us that better hearing is not just about volume, it’s about vitality. We also demystify genetics and testing: APOE-e4 indicates risk, not destiny, and newer blood tests detect disease only after it starts. That context helps listeners choose action over anxiety.

This conversation is practical. We talk about cognitive load at noisy restaurants, the “cocktail party” effect, and how chronic listening strain pushes people to opt out of the moments that keep brains active. We tackle stigma head-on: today’s hearing aids are discreet, smart, and designed for real life. For clinicians, we offer a compassionate playbook—lead with connection, avoid cure claims, suggest appropriate cognitive screening, and never leave families without resources. For anyone with family history or early signs of hearing trouble, the message is clear: protect your connections. Get a hearing check, consider amplification when needed, and double down on heart‑brain health habits that keep you engaged with the people and places you love.

If this conversation resonates, follow the show, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help others find these insights. Have a topic or guest in mind? Email us at soundbites@starky.com.

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Dave Fabry:

Welcome to Starkey Soundbites. I'm your host, Dave Fabry, Starkey's Chief Hearing Health Officer. Today we're going to talk about the increasing uh research body that is connecting hearing loss and dementia. And we know that dementia as a category is really increasing in society in the U.S. And we'll dive into the numbers in just a little bit. But I'm really pleased to have the opportunity to speak today with Carla Holt, who is the founder of So Many Goodbyes. It's a wonderful testimony, really, to your father and whom you lost after a multi-year battle with Alzheimer's disease. And uh, and we've spoken about this before, and you have a hearing loss journey yourself. You've really taken this on as a passion project to really help the lay population better understand the risks of the comorbidities between hearing loss, Alzheimer's, and dementia. And uh, so it's a pleasure, Carla, to have you uh on the podcast and to talk about this subject that you know really isn't something that anyone wants to talk about as we get older.

Karla Hult:

Right.

Dave Fabry:

Um, you know, the the statistics show somewhere between six and seven million people in the U.S. alone are living with dementia. And a subset of that with Alzheimer's is the largest subcategory. So not all dementia is Alzheimer's, but I believe it's the case that all Alzheimer's is dementia. Correct. Is that correct? Absolutely.

Karla Hult:

The most common form of dementia.

Dave Fabry:

Yeah. And the current number, which is staggering, is that 42% of Americans over the age of 55 will likely suffer from dementia in their lifetime. That's that's that's some that just gives me a little bit of pause because I'm over that number.

Karla Hult:

Right.

Dave Fabry:

And it means we're pretty darn close to flip a coin as to whether you're going to be living or a family member uh uh lives with this in their lifetime. And um and it's on the rise. Right now in the U.S., roughly half a million people are diagnosed with dementia each year. By 2060, that number is expected to be a million. And you know, part of this, I wonder if it's the raising awareness leads to more diagnosis or whether the disease itself is on the increase.

Karla Hult:

Diagnosis, definitely a factor, but we're also getting older. Our baby boomers, everyone who is in that group, there are a lot of aging people, right? And so just simple math, two plus two does equal four. And as a result, we will see more Alzheimer's and overall dementia. And the truth is, is that when you look at that statistic of, you know, nearly a half of us will get this at some point. Ideally, if you will, if there's that word could ever be applied to any form of dementia, uh ideally, this won't happen until much later in our lives. And you won't have that extended journey that honestly robs you of the quality of life that every person deserves in their final chapters. So that is kind of the landscape that we're in. It's the reality that so few of us can deny because it's touched us, it's touched our loved ones, it's truly touched our community. I mean, when you talk about those statistics, not one of us is immune from the fact that this will take a toll on our healthcare system. It is a crisis when you consider that a million people will require long-term care and all of the other medicinal, you know, treatments and so forth that really treat the symptoms at this point, aren't yet a cure. And so recognizing that the cost of this really taps into everyone as a taxpayer. So it is it's a huge toll emotionally, obviously, I can attest to emotionally 100%, but also financially, also very practically.

Dave Fabry:

Yeah, I think you you really said it so well. There is a an economics cost, and we talk about statistics, yeah, but the emotional cost. I mean, again, I I I'm very sorry for the loss of your father, Bob.

Karla Hult:

Yeah.

Dave Fabry:

And can you share, if you're willing, yeah, share a memory or two about him uh on the journey and the impact that this made on you and your your entire family, um, and and also the way that you remember him in positive ways.

Karla Hult:

He was an amazing person, typical Minnesotan, grew up in St. Paul's East Side. So he shared the hockey rink with people like Herbie Brooks and Wendy Anderson, who was the former governor. You know, legends. He was a legend along with his twin brother, my dear Uncle Bell. As hockey players, they could kind of anticipate where they would be on the rank because of that twin connection. So they were really good. And but they had a tough childhood. Their parents got divorced. There were five siblings in total in the family, four of whom, by the way, and it ended up succumbing to Alzheimer's, which is heartbreaking. Uh, but they had a tough childhood. Their parents again divorced, and the society at that point really didn't handle broken families in the same way that we do today. There wasn't the support, there wasn't the understanding. And so they had each other as twins. They were the youngest, but otherwise, it was it could be really hard. They had nights where they slept on a bench in the park. And so it was challenging for them, but he persevered. Every member that family did. He went to college first at Hamlin, then at the U of M, ended up having a career at 3M. Could he be anymore, Minnesotan? And all along continued to even continue to play hockey, sometimes did with my high school friends, played hockey, went golfing. He was a runner, he ran marathons, which is often why I say the Alzheimer's marathon was his final marathon. He worked, but he also gave to the community. He gave to our church, and he certainly gave to us as family. And I honestly was so blessed to be his daughter. And I don't deny that I was a daddy's girl. I loved him fiercely. And he was kind of my person, you know, the person who I could call if I had a major question or I was just trying to navigate life. And my best possible story of him as a dad and how he showed up for me was when I was very brokenhearted at the end of my graduate school program when my fiance called off our wedding. Wasn't meant to be happily married. No, it's okay. But at the time, devastated. And I was living in New York City and I had to pack up my life, you know, with this broken heart. And he took a red-eye flight to Philadelphia, waited all night at the train station, took the first morning train up to New York City, grabbed a taxi up to my upper, upper west side apartment where he packed up all my belongings with me and, you know, every picture frame, every piece of furniture, every article of clothing. And in doing that, he was telling me that, you know, I'm not alone. He's still here. He loves me. And I'll never forget that kind of connection and just the fact that he was there for me. And that's how he lived. You know, he really was there for people in the moments we needed him most. And I will just finish with that particular story when we made the very difficult decision to move him into a long-term care community. And that's a really hard decision for every family. But when we recognized that it was time for his safety and for my mom's own care, I struggled with that. And I packed him up for the first time, every picture and everything. And I had a hard time with that because he didn't understand why he was leaving the home where he had raised his three daughters and on the lake that he loved. And so I would visit him though, and I would tell him too, you're not alone. I'm still here. I love you. And I just repeat to him what he always affirmed for me throughout my life. And I, again, I loved him fiercely. I love him to this day and will always love him fiercely because he was a remarkable person. I think what's also so heartbreaking for me is knowing that my story, our family's story, is not unique. And knowing that every person in who was living with Alzheimer's had a rich and beautiful life. Every person who lives with any form of dementia, frontotemporal, vascular, Louis body, they have this vibrant life and they kind of end up succumbing to this disease. Not that joy doesn't still exist on the journey. I'm increasingly appreciative of that, but it is a hard journey. It's that marathon that can really challenge all of us. So that's a little bit about my dad.

Dave Fabry:

Obviously, I could share a lot more about him because I appreciate your sharing that, and it brings up a lot of memories for me. My dad, my dad died when he was 53 and I was 24.

Karla Hult:

I'm so sorry.

Dave Fabry:

And um he had cancer, so it was, I say, the land of the or the death of a thousand goodbyes because we knew something was coming. Cancer treatments were not what they are, and they this was the early 80s, but it was over a long extended period of time. I lost my grandmother in my arms when I was 11 of a heart attack, so that was the death of no goodbyes. Um, but then my my mother, when she, you know, a very common past, she um she had early dementia uh signs. Um, and and we my stepfather and and we had to make a decision. And as you said, I've lived that decision of making the decision for their safety to put them into some sort of care program because my mom was, you know, at r I believe one time we even had to call a silver alert, but she was certainly at always risk of silver alert. She knew she could drive and she would go out and and head out in the car and get lost. Right. And um and so it was a safety to her and to others. And so, but but the difficult decision for all of us as we want to live out our days is we want to be independent. We want to be in control of our physical and mental capacities. And you know, the the with your dad talking about the fact that the majority of his siblings also suffered from dementia, Alzheimer's or Alzheimer's.

Karla Hult:

Alzheimer's, uh, to the extent that they were diagnosed, you know, it takes that formal autopsy to be definitive. Yes, but uh but it all showed up, and and definitively both my dad and Uncle Bill they had the autopsy, and the University of Minnesota was able to confirm yes, this was the cause of death. And and reading those papers, you know, that proved what we knew all along, that too was a startling moment and you know, obviously confirmation, but still hard.

Dave Fabry:

Well, and that's an area that I wanted to probe a little bit because not all of your dad's siblings uh were diagnosed, but but the majority were.

Karla Hult:

Yeah.

Dave Fabry:

And you know, there are, as you say, genetic predispositions, but there are modifiable risk factors, there are lifestyle factors, hearing loss being one that uh the Lancet studies have shown in an isolated sense when they look at all of the potential midlife modifiable risk factors, hearing loss, and the decision to wear hearing aids to offset the loss of hearing, that then in many ways starts to contribute to a loss of connection to other people, which can have that downward spiral. Uh, and we can get into that a little bit more. But but the the hearing loss is the single uh largest component uh of those modifiable midlife risk factors. And so, and yet hearing loss still carries with it a stigma that prevents many people from acting by by choosing to wear hearing aids or cochlear implants, or uh if they there's very few that are medically surgically treatable, but doing something once they are diagnosed with a hearing loss, increasingly some of this research that is showing comorbidities between hearing loss and dementia suggests that to delay really is is not a good thing. And and you know, you have a hearing journey with this. We're we're talking about your dad and some of the statistics today, but but the issue is really if there are genetic tests that can show that you're predisposed toward this, particularly for those individuals, I would say it would be important to do something to improve their hearing because there are now numerous studies that have been published and are still coming out today that show the link in controlled prospective studies between untreated hearing loss versus someone wearing amplification and their elevation of risk for dementia and the benefits, in particular the the Achieve study, which was a multi-year study, I uh many hearing care professionals were disappointed because the main effect of treatment with hearing aids for the overall cohort that they studied in the Achieve study didn't show benefits of amplification. However, the subset that had cardiovascular risk factors along with a risk of dementia showed a significant preservation on the 10 measures that they studied over a three-year time period. Um, when they wore hearing aids, they they had 48% better preservation on the cognitive measures that they monitored than the control group that received health care attention and information and lifestyle. Uh you know, they were still getting attention in the healthcare system, but specifically were not wearing amplification. They didn't fare nearly as well over that three-year time period. Um the the other interesting part is even though the positive effect of amplification was limited to people that had risk of dementia, were in the aging population, and had cardiovascular risk factors, the overall group um did benefit from the use of amplification in terms of reduced loneliness, increased size, and diversity of their social network. That's a powerful statement. And really just suggests the importance of being connected. We're not just fitting little pieces of plastic that that admittedly, you know, people say, oh, hearing aids are expensive, but at what price? I mean, and they connect us to other people.

Karla Hult:

Right. It's preventative. I will say, as a person, as a daughter, as a reporter, because as a journalist, I was fascinated by the study. Obviously, I had a vested interest.

Dave Fabry:

That's how we first met. That's how we first met.

Karla Hult:

I got to interview you, which was amazing because I saw that study and I did a jig. I was so happy. I mean, this is something definitive, something we can practically, very specifically, directly do to help alleviate and help reduce our risk. And when we are predisposed to developing dementia, we feel a little bit helpless because we may, especially if we've walked alongside a loved one, we know the heartbreak that not just awaits us, awaits our other family, my children. I don't want them to say so many goodbyes to me in the way that I had to with my dad. And so I am searching kind of frantically for what I can do to reduce that risk. And yes, you can get sleep and you can eat well, and you can do this one too. You have to do all of those. All of those things. And I am trying. Sleep is something I'm still working on. But I am trying to do more and more of those things. But when it comes to the hearing loss and knowing that there is that connection, and I will say with respect to that subgroup that you talked about, the cardiovascular risk, a lot of us, I and I'd be curious what the science is saying about this as well. A lot of us who do have that rich, if you will say, rich Alzheimer's history also have a lot of heart disease in our families. Because they always say, you know, what's good for the brain is good for the heart, and vice versa, in terms of our diet and our behaviors. And so I'd be curious, I would think that that is quite a large part of that subgroup. Yeah. Um, that it represents a large part of our overall community, that the science is connected there. And that again, it behooves us as children, as family members, as any person who knows that they may be at a higher risk. It behooves us to consider this and be really serious about it. And yes, I had to finally be serious about the fact that when I went to restaurants, I struggled to follow conversations and maybe would try to piece together, you know, what someone said, particularly if there were soft spoken, what someone said based on the one to five, you know, five words I heard out of 20. I mean, it was absurd. And so I had to take that next step, which I'm grateful I did.

Dave Fabry:

Well, and then you say that with untreated hearing loss and you're hearing, you know, five words out of twenty, yeah, your brain is having to be in overdrive in terms of cognitive effort, cognitive load, we'll talk about it, where where you're really having to think, okay, I got you're not getting five words in a row necessarily, you're getting a couple here and there, and and you've got to fill in a lot of the blanks. Yeah. And if you're not hearing it, uh very, very often, then what family members start worrying about, you're detaching from that. Because you're only going to go to a few of those uh uh types of events before you start saying, It's not fun for me. I'm not gonna do this because I'm exhausted at the end of the evening, because I'm my brain has been in overdrive, trying to piece all of those conversations together. And the proverbial cocktail party effect is the worst example of that because you're often seeing people that you haven't seen in a while or don't know well, or meeting new people. And the topic of conversation, the context is constantly varying. You'll talk about everything from kids' sports to parents to activities you're doing. And for someone with untreated hearing loss, you're really struggling to follow that thread through all of those different conversations. And if it's not fun, you're gonna stop doing it.

Karla Hult:

Absolutely. Or you're gonna make some really goofy mistakes in this course of your socializing. And, you know, I would follow a lot of verbal cues or a lot of uh nonverbal, I should say, nonverbal cues, in order to just, oh, they're laughing or oh, this whatever. And I I became nuanced. I will say too, when with what you just said, your brain is working over time. I I continue to find that counterintuitive. Well, doesn't that make my hearing or my brain better because it's having to work harder? It's kind of like the exercise motif. But yeah, to your point, I guess I was tired at the end. But then I yeah, I had those mishaps. You know, I was at a party once and someone was explaining that their husband wasn't there because he had a bad dental appointment. I'm like, oh, I hope he gets better, you know. And I was referring to it like it was a major illness as opposed to something that automatically in 24 hours would be better. And she said, Well, Carla, it was just a dental, you know, and I was like, oh, and I'm I'm you know, caught. Yeah, I'm caught. I mean, she got me because of the fact that I didn't quite understand what it was because I was just trying to piece it all together. And I have nothing but empathy for people who've experienced that. And to the point about the cocktail situation and restaurants, I mean, I was getting to the point where I would just say, let's just have them over for dinner. Let's, you know, socialize in this way where I can control the volume of the music, and we don't have a loud kitchen near us and other tables chattering as well. And I, if I want to have a conversation, that is the only way I'm going to be able to fully engage. And that's that's something that we all deserve and we all want in our life. And and now we find out not only do we want it, but we need it. It's something that you have to do.

Dave Fabry:

Absolutely.

Karla Hult:

Yeah.

Dave Fabry:

Now, in addition to um, you know, so many goodbyes, you're involved v very intensively with Alzheimer's Association groups and and support groups and and and working to talk with other family members uh dealing with these same issues. And one of one of the things I'm curious about is the in the same way that it's it's difficult to even talk about this. As an audiologist, uh that connection, that link.

Karla Hult:

Yeah.

Dave Fabry:

We want to be careful to not suggest that hearing aids are going to cure dementia. They can slow down the progression.

Karla Hult:

Absolutely.

Dave Fabry:

Um, and they can, as the chief study and others have shown, they can help preserve more by ensuring that you're at least getting your ears are sensors. Your brain is doing all the work and ensuring that the sensors are delivering a signal in the form of speech, the most important and salient uh signal that we're hearing on a day-to-day basis that connects us, that we're we're we're overcoming to the degree that we can the damage that has occurred, but we're still feeding a brain that that has a process going in it. And now that there's genetic testing that enables people to at least identify are they at risk, do they have the genetic makeup? Um so in a family that that has shown there's a strong genetic predisposition, does everyone go uh you know, going through that process? I know there's a lot of people say, I don't want to know. I I just don't want to know, I don't want to have this feeling like I have a ticking time bomb in me or not. How do you how do you guide people when they ask you, you know, okay, there there are ways to at least know from the genetic side of establishing a risk factor. And then that would in turn uh help mobilize it's something as an audiologist we have to be very careful about. Hearing aids are not gonna cure dementia. Right. Hopefully those staggering numbers that I mentioned at the start of the podcast won't come true because we'll see uh cures that come in our lifetime. Yes or your lifetime, maybe not mine. I don't know. We'll see. Uh at least by my daughters.

Karla Hult:

Yes. And for the millions of other people on the journey today, you know, because that's I think how often a lot of us feel. Yeah. It's not about me. I mean, I'll, you know, I kind of actually just assume that's my future. But I care more about my daughters not experiencing this. And I certainly, and and ideally, they wouldn't have to say good many, so many goodbyes to me, too. But I and I also really have a heart for all of the millions of people who I know will go through this and may not have that direct or close connection to their loved one and are just challenged for many other reasons of life to go through this journey, whether it's resources or whatever privilege can bring a person. So it's all of those feelings. But to your point about that diagnosis, I will say, um, and this is like, I don't even know, the as far as I know, the early onset is the one that can be only definitively diagnosed. Yes. Um the APOE four, which is the marker that showed that you're a higher, higher risk, that just says again that you're at the higher risk.

Dave Fabry:

Doesn't mean that you're gonna get it.

Karla Hult:

Doesn't mean you're gonna get it. And now we do have a blood test too, which is amazing, but you have to already have the Alzheimer's disease. It has to have already begun. So the the disease has to have the plaque is already building up in your brain for the blood test to pick up on it. So, all of that said, I haven't personally done the test because honestly, what the test tells me is what I already know. Right. I'm at a significantly higher chance of developing Alzheimer's disease because of my family history. And I'll be completely honest, I am a Hulk girl through and through. My dad was sensitive and analytical. That's me in a nutshell. So I know I'm pretty sure. Pulling more from that side. Yeah, I'm definitely drawing from his personality. I'm definitely, and and I love my mom fiercely too, but I'm very much a lot like my dad. So I I kind of already know that that's probably it, you know, in my genetic cards, if you will. And so I think anyone, and again, I think it's quality of life issues. I think it's the fact that we all want to live a good enriched life. And so why not take these definitive direct steps that we can to make a difference and maybe again lower our risk, if not for ourselves, for our loved ones, because it's really hard on them.

Dave Fabry:

Well, and you did that because you you, you know, when we first met and it was over that the article, and you were reporting on it, and then and then from that a hearing test was conducted, and it turned out you have a little bit of hearing loss, and um and you've chosen to wear hearing aids yourself. It is a modifiable risk factor that you've done something about, ostensibly to try to do that midlife uh cor correction, if you will, you know, that that that risk factor to try to lower it as much as you can. So now moving from the genetic predisposition to environmental risk factors, including loss and doing something for that. Um what do you say to people who maybe are are worried or maybe they even have an inkling that they may be at risk because of family history or what they've seen in their in themselves, or maybe even some uh evaluations they've taken, but but are still hesitant to wear hearing aids?

Karla Hult:

Don't be hesitant. Embrace it. Honestly, it's a quality of life issue. You know, I experienced some hearing damages we talked about based on I was a I'm a broadcast journalist, and so I've had those little ear pieces, and so it's the ear damage, the IFB, and I had pretty pronounced hearing loss at a pretty young age. I was pregnant with my second daughter when I heared my first hearing test where it was really bad. And I said, Well, I'm pregnant. Can we test again later? Um, a little bit better the second time, but still really bad. And the fact is, and and we talked about this when I was first fitted for hearing aids, and we put those hearing aids in, I felt like the world was just a little bit more vibrant. Yeah. And and I said that, you know, I feel like a whole new palette has been introduced to me. And you said it's the acoustic palette, you know, it's it's new ranges, it's new uh, it's new sounds that you are hearing for the first time or for the first time in a while. In a long time, yeah, it's in a very long time. Feels like the first time for me. I feel like waking up every day. So I understand that our society is a little slow still in shaking the you know the stereotype. And and maybe we in the broadcast industry are partly to blame for that. We use, we show these like what do you call it, the banana, whatever the banana.

Dave Fabry:

I mean, you know, that's been a particular mission of our CEO and president Brandon Swalich, because he sees it drives him nuts. I've been with him when he sees a story that they're doing, maybe you know, for the achieve results or or the benefits of amplification in other ways, and then you see a 1970s vintage hearing aid that we have I haven't personally worked with in decades as representing um the the stigma in people's mind, and it just perpetuates that. And so we've been trying to produce stock images that are free for people to use to just really bring it into the the the 21st century to say, look, you know, hearing aids are not your grandmother or grandfather's hearing aids.

Karla Hult:

It's so beautiful, and it's not, and again, it's if you are at all self-conscious about the image, I mean, I just I just never get no one spots it. I came home after I got fitted for those hearing aids and I asked my girls, what do you see that's different? And they looked at me, new earring. I mean, and these are teenage, teenage daughters. They like to pick apart their mother. And so if they can't see it, I guarantee when you show up in public, but even more than that, I actually kind of wear mine with pride because I feel like I've taken a big step for myself and for the people around me that I can better engage and maybe protect my health, you know, and that is so important to me.

Dave Fabry:

No, yeah, it it's it's thinking short term to be able to hear your family and everyone around you, but also thinking for the long term. Now, what advice? So I asked what advice you might have for families or individuals dealing with hearing loss. The the the you know, a large percentage of our audience are hearing care professionals, audiologists, and dispensers. I can tell you, because I still get to work with patients, and um, one of the more difficult conversations is to have a conversation with an individual who is exhibiting signs of dementia, Alzheimer's, and hearing loss. And in their mind, I know they're thinking, if especially if their family member is there, and we're talking about those risks from the professional standpoint. You don't want to be invasive. You want to not bury it either. How can professionals deal with such a weighty topic that in the individual, the family member that's with them, loves them and wants them to make sure that they're not uh ignoring a problem? The individual is conflating hearing loss with uh living in a facility where they're not in their home anymore and they're not gonna be, they're gonna lose their independence and they're fearful. What advice do you have for professionals working with aging individuals at 42%, 55% and over? This is not a corner case. This is not someone that they're only rarely gonna see. How can they handle it directly with empathy, with uh, you know, the the proper uh tone in working with uh individual patients and their family members?

Karla Hult:

Lead with compassion, right? And so providing them the information that they need, first and foremost, saying, I think you don't necessarily need to couple it in that moment because if they're already showing signs of the dementia, maybe prevention isn't necessarily their priority at that point. But you know, still sharing with them, listen, this is going to help you to engage better. And this is the purpose of this and what and why it will be good for you physically and emotionally. But then apart from that, when you're also seeing those other signs, and thank you for seeing those other signs, that means that you are connecting very personally with your patient, but just recognizing that they may need a nudge. So, you know what? Have you considered taking, you know, some additional cognitive screening tests? You know, and and and you can you can use the cognitive word maybe with the loved ones and and make sure that they're involved in it, but don't over, you know, don't bypass the person who might be living with dementia. Hey, you know, we all change as we're aging. I think it would be beneficial to get a couple more screenings or a couple more tests on board here. And here's the deal I know, you know, and to have someone who you know maybe in your own medical network who you can suggest or their own primary care person, you know, somebody who can help guide them through that. And then, and this is so important because I hear this from families all the time. They get the first sign, even whether it's the initial diagnosis or just any indication that this is their new reality, and then they're left to go on their merry way. And that can honestly be heartbreaking to the point of horrifying because you're scared and you're sad and you're overwhelmed. And so following up that conversation with you're not alone. You have a community here to support you. We in the audiology world will support you to engage in every way you can with the help of hearing aids and other devices, but also you are not alone when it comes to all of the organizations and medical providers who will walk alongside you if this is what is happening to you. And so providing those direct connect points and showing them who exists, whether it's Carla with so many goodbyes or the Alzheimer's Association, who I love, and AARP and senior linkage line in Minnesota. And every state has, you know, the area agency on aging. There are a lot of places doing a lot of really beautiful work. And so you are not alone is not something we just say. It is true. And so trying to give them some of those resources to kind of, you know, give them the next step that nudge toward additional screening and additional confirmation, but then couple that with the resources that will walk alongside them.

Dave Fabry:

That's such a powerful message. So can people that listen to this podcast reach out to you if so many goodbyes and provide some resources for those who are maybe not as experienced with addressing this and just some of the pointers that you gave there? I mean, uh too often what I what I see sometimes is people are using the the the stick method to say if you don't get hearing aids, you know, and you have dementia, it's gonna get worse. But but I think it it using the carrot, talking about quality of life, talking about that it takes a village to work on this. And and I'm so grateful for you to uh be on Sound Bites and to talk about uh so many goodbyes and and your advocacy efforts on behalf of your dad and your memory for him. No one has has um made me tear up on this podcast before. So thanks for that.

Karla Hult:

Well, thank you. You made me tear up in in response. But thank you. Um you know the love of a parent and you know what that love means when you've lost that parent. Yeah. It changes your life, it changes who you are, and it will forever. And it is part of why I'm on this mission. And it's also part of why I'm so grateful to you and for your work and for your outreach that you are touching lives and making a difference, especially with people who are touched by dementia. So thank you.

Dave Fabry:

Thank you. And and you can go to www.starkey.com for more information on this. Um, it's really central to our mission and to try to work with people wherever they are and and meet the patient where they are, but then also to do the best we can with what we have at any point in stage. And and that's what I really also like about your positivity. Um, and too many people could just go into a shell um having lost someone that is their person, as you said, and and not put it for advocacy and for the good. And so thank you very much. And for the viewers, um, I hope you enjoyed this podcast. Um, and uh, if you have other ideas for other topics we can deal and other guests we can bring on in the future, send us a note at uh uh uh uh soundbites at starky.com. Uh until then, otherwise, thank you, Carla Holt, for being here today. Uh, we'll look forward to seeing and hearing you soon. Thank you.

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Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS

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