The Ear Foundation has published its third report on the impact of hearing loss on adults. Bending the Spend is a recommendation of how the government of the United Kingdom can fund cochlear implants by saving money on the overall financial cost hearing loss has on a society.
Sue Archbold, the Ear Foundation’s Chief Executive and a member of the Ida Advisory Board, co-authored the study with Brian Lamb and Ciaran O’Neill. Last year, they released The Real Cost of Adult Hearing Loss, which estimated that hearing loss costs the UK £25 billion a year in lost wages and taxes, visits to the doctor, and benefits paid to those who are unable to work because of their hearing loss. Bending the Spend is a continuation of this study, looking at how cochlear implants for adults can be funded by the government through savings.
This can be achieved by getting the 30% of people of working age with severe hearing loss back in work, and by preventing cognitive decline, mental illness, and dementia, all of which are strongly correlated with hearing loss. According to the report, “Moving resources from one area to another without major disruption…can ensure improved services for those with hearing loss.”
Because a person who gets a CI may have less of a need for public services than before the implantation, it is estimated in the report that the return on investment for a CI is $2.07 for every dollar.
The Ear Foundation is a UK-based charity that specializes in cochlear implants and family centered care. Thus they stress the importance not only for new technologies to help people with hearing loss, but also long term support to ensure the patient reaps the maximum benefits of the technology. Other measures proposed to help “bend the spend” include providing more prevention and peer support and maintenance after implantation. Increase use of tele-health is also suggested for the convenience of patients and reduction of travel costs and time (and thus disturbance to family life) and to increase patients’ confidence in managing their own hearing. For the clinics, this means more time, money, and space to see more complex cases, and increased independence for the person with hearing loss and their partners.
Funding isn’t the only issue the Ear Foundation are concerned about. A survey this year by the British Academy of Audiology found that less than 50% of professionals felt confident about making referrals for CIs, leading Sue Archbold to cite “training audiologists about the criteria for cochlear implantation and getting them to think about referrals” as the most important recommendation made in the Ear Foundation report.
The Ear Foundation has begun to see the impact of their reports over the last few years. “We are delighted that the government published a long awaited action plan on hearing loss and we are part of the implementation programme which is great news that NHS England is taking interest in hearing loss,” Sue said in an email to the Ida Institute.
You can read Bending the Spend in full at the Ear Foundation’s website.