Assistive Listening Knowledge Base
  • Survey (press release)

New HearingLife Survey Finds Hearing Challenges Can Mean Missing the Moments That Matter Most (Hearing Experience Index)

From https://assistivelisteningknowledgebase.org/evidence/hearinglife-2026-hearing-experience-index/ · record checked 13 October 2026

  • HearingLife
  • HearingLife (press release distributed by PR Newswire)

Manufacturer (HearingLife, a US hearing care company with more than 600 centres and part of the Demant Group, which it calls a global leader in hearing healthcare; HearingLife commissioned the survey and does not name the polling firm)

Summary

A hearing care company's online survey of 1,950 US adults aged 60 and over about hearing in public places, including whether they know that venues offer hearing technology.

Key findings

  • About the Survey names the eight state oversamples as Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. The release gives 1,950 participants in total and 750 in the national sample, without identifying the exact item/weighted base of the headline percentages.
  • 23% of adults aged 60 and over were aware that some public venues offer technology designed to improve hearing experiences, and 84% had never used technology or an accommodation to help them hear better in public places.
  • 73% agreed that public spaces are not designed with hearing accessibility in mind, rising to 90% among those who personally have hearing difficulty.
  • Among adults with hearing difficulty, 38% had missed or struggled to follow an announcement while travelling and 30% important medical information.
  • The company concludes that venues can make hearing accessibility more visible and available, and that individuals can learn more about the tools available; it encourages people with difficulty to see a hearing care professional.

Limits

A press release from a company that sells hearing care: the question wording, the polling firm and full tables are not published, and the release does not say which venue technologies were meant. The 23% and 84% figures cover all adults aged 60 and over, with or without hearing difficulty. Online fieldwork ran from 29 June to 27 July 2026; the stated margin of error (plus or minus 3.6 points) is for the national sample of 750, while the 1,950 total includes oversamples in eight states.

Read the original

www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-hearinglife-survey-finds-hearing-challenges-can-mean-missing-the-moments-that-matter-most-302897822.html

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Cited in

Cite this source

HearingLife. New HearingLife Survey Finds Hearing Challenges Can Mean Missing the Moments That Matter Most (Hearing Experience Index). HearingLife (press release distributed by PR Newswire). 5 October 2026. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-hearinglife-survey-finds-hearing-challenges-can-mean-missing-the-moments-that-matter-most-302897822.html (accessed 13 October 2026).

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