Listen and Learn - 11-23-24

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning and welcome to listen and learn. This is
where we talk about our health and hearing of course
with Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers, and find out how
we can keep both at their very best. With us
is Concept by Iowa Hearing Instrument Specialist Kat Klower.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Good morning, Kat, good morning. I'm happy Saturday. Thank you
everyone for listening. Can you believe Thanksgiving is literally right
around the corner?

Speaker 1 (00:25):
I know, I know my husband went to the store
and bought all the side dish stuff and I'm like,
isn't this too early? And He's like, uh no, And
I'm like, oh right, I'm looking at the calendar right now. Yeah,
it's creeping up on us quickly.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
It is well.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
And as we are thinking about gathering with our family
and friends for all of these holiday gatherings, of course,
Thanksgiving coming up really quickly, how about you think about
getting your hearing tested so if you know, even if
you know Thanksgiving isn't when you're going to be able
to do it because you have a lot of stuff

(01:00):
on your plate, then directly right after so that your
Christmas gatherings are completely handled. Okay, the phone number you're
gonna need to contact Concept by Iowa Hearing Center, so
you can get that scheduled before the end of the month.
Is eight seven seven six three two thirty six ninety.
That's eight seven seven six three two thirty six ninety.

(01:21):
Their website is Iowa Hearing dot com, which you can
also use to schedule that complimentary hearing exam again Iowahearing
dot com, and you will want to do that by
one o'clock today. The promo that you qualify for is
five hundred dollars off per device on the Best Series
package and twenty four months no interest financing with approved credit. Again,

(01:45):
you'll want to call or go online have that schedule
that won by one o'clock today before the end of
the month. Alright, so let's continue talking about our health
and hearing. Kat Klower November. I know it's Thanksgiving right
around the corner, but it's also we've been talking about
a very very important month.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
Yeah, So November is Alzheimer's Awareness months, and we've kind
of talked about that and about brain health and hearing
health all month long, and I just do want to
mention it because you know, November is not quite over.
It is Alzheimer's Awareness month, but today we're actually because

(02:26):
Thanksgivings around the corner, We're going to get into kind
of like a side topic, some other things that relate
to our cognitive health and things that we can do.
And also I want to kind of end the show
with communication tips for the Thanksgiving holiday, because as we
gather with friends and family, we want to make sure

(02:50):
people are enjoying their time and hearing their best. So
when we think of what is the secret of a
long and happy life? Yeah, human beings are social creatures,
and you know, as we think of you know, people
can really expect to live a vibrant, active life now

(03:11):
well into their tenth decade. And we often say sixty
is the new forty. Okay, we're living longer, we're living healthy,
you know, we're feeling good longer. So as we age longer,
how do we you know, keep that quality of life?
What is that secret of a long happy life? And

(03:33):
there have been many longitudal studies that have been conducted
all over the world on a range of diverse populations
that help us address this question. And you know, the
summary of all this is actually taken from seven different studies,
and like they said, diverse populations and all around the

(03:54):
world and study one is the Harvard Grant Study and
this was actually began in nineteen thirty eight, so these
have also been done in different time frames. The second
study is the British Cohort Studies and that was started

(04:16):
in the nineteen sixties. There's another one, the cal Berkeley
Mills Longitudinal Study, and that was a fifty year study
that was done with women. There's a Multi Dissent Health
and Development Study out in New Zealand and that was
started in the seventies. There was a Kuhi Longitudinal Study

(04:41):
and that was started with children in nineteen fifty five.
There was the Chicago Health and Aging and Social Relations
Study that started in the two thousands, and the Baltimore
Healthy Aging and Neighborhoods of Diversity across the lifespan and

(05:01):
that's been going since about the early two thousands. So
why I mentioned all these studies is to just get
across the point that there's not just been one study done,
and there was not just one study that was started
ten years ago. This is an accumulation of multiple studies

(05:24):
across decades of time and across diverse populations. So what
is this unifying conclusion from all of this data. Although
emotional and financial security are important components of a long,
happy life, they are really not the main factors. Instead,

(05:46):
the answer sometimes can be summarized in one word, relationships.
We know that human that power and need for human
connection helps us live a good life as we grow older.
A researcher out of the Harvard Grant study says, really,

(06:09):
loneliness kills. It's as powerful as smoking or alcoholism, and
that absence of human connections often leads to social isolation, loneliness,
and overall poor quality of life. And as we mentioned earlier,
November is Alzheimer's Awareness Month, and we really kind of

(06:32):
hit home the point all months that the number one
modifiable risk factor for dementia is treating hearing loss. But often,
you know, like the number three is social isolation and
number four is depression, and those all kind of our
intertwined together, because if we're not hearing our best, we're

(06:57):
going to withdraw and we're not going to keep those
social connections together, which are so important for a vital,
healthy life as we age. We're going to kind of
get into a little bit more things about conversation itself.
But let's take a break and go over that great
special we have today for the holidays.

Speaker 1 (07:19):
Oh my goodness, and it's so great. Five hundred dollars
off per device on the Best series package and you
would receive twenty four months no interest financing with approved credit.
If you call and schedule that complimentary hearing evaluation with
Concept by one o'clock today, have it on your calendar

(07:39):
before the end of the month. So here's the number
to contact Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers eight seven seven
six three two thirty six ninety. That's eight seven seven
six three two thirty six ninety. You can also go
to their website Iowa Hearing dot com. That's Iowa here

(08:00):
dot com and you can schedule your hearing exam that
way if you prefer. Of course, Kat Klower, Instrument Specialist,
Hearing Instrument Specialist with Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers is
with us and talking about our health, our hearing, how
to keep it both at their best. I find this
absolutely intriguing about how are like all the things that

(08:24):
we do are so intertwined, which includes being social, our
hearing and all these It just kind of blows my mind.
Kat it how it all comes together.

Speaker 2 (08:36):
It does all come together. You know, everything's related, and
let's get into a little bit about what our conversations
and why are they important to us? So, unlike other
forms of human interaction, conversations are almost completely dependent upon
hearing what other communication partners are saying. They usually involved

(09:00):
an improvisational back and forth, with an endless palette of topics,
a broad range of objectives, and spoken language. After all,
you know, you can silently read text messages or you
can put on close captioning on your television for meaningful information,
but for conversations, the ability to hear is really what's necessary.

(09:26):
And for these reasons, a conversation is a special form
of social interaction that demands cooperation between its participants, and
we're going to kind of get into that a little
bit more as well, because I think over the holidays
it is going to take some cooperation, you know, when
it comes to conversing and including everybody in the group,

(09:50):
and kind of for fun, I found this list, and
I am a nerd. I know of examples that our
colorful expressions you to describe conversations, and some of these
I think kind of go well with Thanksgiving. So the
first one is chew the fat yes, the second one

(10:11):
is talking Turkey, and then you know we have the
Gift of gab holiday once a war of the words,
shoot the breeze, spinning a yarn, dropping a bombshell, throwing shade,

(10:32):
talking brass texts, letting the cat out of the bag,
verbal ping pong, fruitful exchange, and long winded. I just
thought those were kind of fun and they had to
throw those in.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
Yeah, clever, clever.

Speaker 2 (10:47):
So you know, what do we do? You know, if
if people want to keep those connections going, they want
to live healthfully, we need to understand that at Concepts,
we are always offering quality and modern hearing technology and

(11:08):
it really is helpful for those family dynamics. Our hearing
aids today can detect different sounds in a room. They
can identify and enhance voices of speakers. They can reduce
background noise so the patient can focus on what they
want to hear. They they use advanced processing to split

(11:30):
sound into different audio channels, as well as artificial intelligence
and sensors to identify people as they enter and exit
the conversation. So, you know, especially when we're talking about
this artificial intelligence, that's what's been incorporated in our newest
technology and it is the only chip that is available

(11:56):
that its goal is to separate speech from no because
we want people when they're in those group situations to
be able to hear at their best and we know
it's so important. I'm just going to quick throw in
another study. This is a study I've talked about before,

(12:16):
and this one is actually out of Queensland University in Australia.
But they kind of talk about how social ties and
cognitive well being is so important. They say that maintaining
social groups is beneficial for maintaining our cognitive abilities, that

(12:36):
relationship between the two, and they find that people aged
eighty with extensive group ties have on average a cognitive
age that is twenty years better than people with limited
social ties. I mean this is huge. I mean we're
not talking one year two year difference, but a twenty

(12:59):
year difference and cognitive age. So, you know, as we
gather for the holidays, if you notice that somebody is
struggling what they're hearing, I recommend you mentioned to them.
You know, hey, it's so important that we're hearing and understanding.
And if you have not been tested in the last

(13:20):
five years, let's go in together. And get our hearing checks.
Make it something fun, you know, come into Davenport, get
your hearing tested, go to dinner, do some holiday shopping,
whatever the case might be, and remember that it's always complimentary.
Just pick up that phone and give us a call

(13:40):
by one o'clock today.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
The number you need is eight seven seven six three
two thirty six ninety. Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers. The
number for your complimentary hearing exam again eight seven seven
six three two thirty six ninety. Their website is Iowa
Hearing dot com. That's all spelled Iowa Hearing dot com.

(14:03):
And either way you can schedule that complimentary hearing evaluation
and qualify for the Great Promo which is five hundred
dollars off per device on the Best Series package and
twenty four months no interest financing with approved credit. You
just have to call get in touch with them, schedule
it by one o'clock today and have it on your
calendar before the end of the month. Our hearing instrument

(14:26):
specialists with Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers is Kat Klower
and Kat. Yeah. I know you always say you're kind
of a nerd when it comes to statistics and all
the things but it's so interesting because again, all of
these things intertwine, and we forget that our health and
our hearing, I mean, keeping them both at their best

(14:46):
is important both directions.

Speaker 2 (14:48):
It is important, very important. I think for so many
years people have thought of treating hearing loss as just
treating hearing itself and not realizing how it affects our
overall quality of life. And talking about quality, we're less
than a week away from Thanksgiving. I can already smell

(15:10):
the turkey and the fun time. And you know, there's
lots of fun activities we have, you know, probably shopping,
maybe some football game watching, watching the Macy Thanksgiving Day parade,
you know, whatever your Thanksgiving tradition is. But a lot
of times it involves getting together in groups with friends

(15:32):
or family. And we want to talk about ways to
improve conversations during the holidays because for a lot of people,
this is maybe one a few times of the year
that everybody gets together, and you want to make sure
that you're hearing and understanding and enjoying your time together.

(15:53):
So the first thing that I'm going to mention is
if you notice someone's having trouble hearing and they ask
you to repeat, think to yourself rephrase rather than repeat,
And this is hard to do, I'll admit myself. I

(16:14):
usually end up repeating the first time and then catch
myself and then the next time rephrase. But let's say,
for example, it's very common for people to lose their
high frequencies first. So what comes with that is trouble
getting clarity in those high frequency consonants like epicent Franks

(16:36):
isn't sam tea is in truck Okay. So if you're
saying the same thing over and over and they're just
having trouble hearing that particular speech sound, it's more helpful
to just rephrase what you said, because it also gives
them more context to kind of come to the conclusion

(16:57):
of what's being said. I think this is a great
communication tip for the holidays. The other thing that I
recommend is encourage face to face conversation. Everyone hears better
when they can see the face of the person speaking.
This ensures that sound is directed towards the listener and

(17:19):
allows for speech reading. So you know, we don't all
read lips necessarily, but seeing a person's face really helps
us get visual clues and put together what's being said.
Another thing that I recommend if you do have like
a football game on, or maybe you've got background music

(17:42):
on when it times comes time to sit down and
talk and gather, either turn it off or just turn
it down to a low level so that it's not
competing with the conversation or making it even harder to
hear that conversation. Another thing that I think a lot
of people don't realize or think about. You know, I

(18:07):
think of social media and Pinterest. We think of this
beautiful Thanksgiving table with fancy table wearin decorated and maybe candles,
which gives great ambiance. But if the room lighting is
not adequate, it makes hard to recognize those facial expressions. So,

(18:31):
you know, maybe have the candles, but maybe also have
some additional lighting so that people can see well and
not have mismeaning on what's being said or even facial
expression and misconstrue something that's been said. Another thing is
decrease your distance to the sound source. You know, people

(18:54):
are making the meal, they're in the kitchen, you know,
people are in the living room doing what they're doing.
People are sitting at the dining room table. Instead of
shouting across the room, maybe get up and get closer
to that sound source, moving into that same room, getting

(19:14):
closer rather than having the speech get lost over distance
or around a corner. Those are some that's another good
communication tip. And let's say maybe you're not, you know,
gathering in the home. Maybe you're like, I'm done cooking.
Let's go somewhere and have Thanksgiving meal and make it easy.

(19:37):
So you're going to go out to a restaurant for
your meal, don't be afraid to speak up and either
request a booth that has a high back or request
a table away from the noisy areas like the entrance
or the kitchen. And another thing to consider when you're

(19:58):
at a restaurant, if you have someone who does struggle
a little bit more with their hearing, if possible, situate
them so they have their back to a wall so
that the sound is not just going past them and
making it even more difficult to hear. And of course,

(20:18):
you know, consider coming in and getting a hearing test,
because if there is loss there, they're going to benefit
from treating that loss. And as we often say, it's
hard to self diagnose hearing loss happens slowly and gradually,

(20:40):
and when we're not hearing something it's hard to recognize
that we're not hearing it. So the best thing to
do is to regularly get your hearing tested start at
age forty every five years afterwards. And at Concept by Iowa,
we make this process easy. It's complimentary. You just got

(21:02):
to pick up the phone and give us a call.

Speaker 1 (21:04):
And when Kat says complimentary, she means complimentary. You don't
have to pony up any money. Your insurance company is
not billed all right, so it's completely free. You can
get a good handle. We always say knowledge is power.
You can get a handle on where your hearing loss
is and what can be done about it, or you'll
just know it's good and you're going to be fine

(21:25):
for the next five years. So here you go. Contact
Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers at eight seven seven six
three two thirty six ninety again eight seven seven six
three two thirty six ninety. You can also go through
their website Iowa Hearing dot com. That's Iowa Hearing dot
com and of course you will want to do that

(21:47):
by one o'clock today to qualify for this great promo.
You would receive five hundred dollars off per device on
the Best Series package. And twenty four months no interest
financial with approved credit. Again, if you call and you
know to get scheduled by one o'clock today and you
have it on your calendar before the end of the month,

(22:08):
which is not far away, so you will want to
get on that, remember by one o'clock. Concept by eye
we're hearing centers. Hearing instruments specialist Kat Klower is with
us of course, talking about the holidays and our gatherings
and what we can do to keep our hearing and
our health at our absolute best and to be able
to navigate these situations. You know, I often think when

(22:29):
you do have a noisy situation, especially if you have
a very big family that's getting together, it's often, I
think a good idea to if there's somebody who're trying
to talk to and they're having trouble, just go into
a separate room. Hey, can we talk over here. It
might be a better condition.

Speaker 2 (22:45):
Yes, I think that's a great tip. You know, sometimes
when you're sitting at the meal, everybody see's eating, you know,
there's maybe multiple conversations going on, and it's hard for
everybody to participate and all the conversations. So maybe when
the meal's over there's somebody that you don't typically get

(23:07):
to spend a lot of time with, you know, pull aside,
go into another room with good lighting and kind of
sit one on one and have a good conversation. You know,
put down the phones, turn down the TV and just
get into the conversations and see where it goes. You know,

(23:27):
you may discover things you didn't know, and that's you know,
the fun part of the communication. And as we gather
over the holidays and maybe you're going to other areas
of the state. I also want to remind people that
we have multiple locations across the state of Iowa. Concept

(23:50):
by Iowa ranges from central Iowa over to eastern Iowa
along the Mississippi River, and we have clinics and aims
Iowa c Top Bids, Clinton, Corville, Corville, Avanport, Dubuque, Grenelle, Marshalltown, Oscaloosa, Palla,

(24:10):
Pleasant Hill, Waterloo, West des Moines. And you know, as
we come into Thanksgiving holiday and we kind of wrap
that up, it's not even going to be like three
three and a half weeks later we're going to be
rolling into that Christmas holiday and New Year's So we

(24:31):
just really need to remember during this time, with all
these holidays, the most important way to ensure holiday harmony
is to be respectful and patient. You know, if someone
is struggling what they're hearing, you know, be patient, repeat rephrase.

(24:52):
More importantly, holidays can be the perfect time to gently
encourage your loved one to get their hearing tested and
committing to attending their appointment with them, or better yet,
just come in and get tested together so they don't
feel like it's all the weight or all the pressure

(25:12):
all the focuses on them. And if your loved one
is receptive to getting their hearing evaluated, you might also
want to consider giving the gift of hearing to your
loved one this holiday. It's such a great way to
stay connected and to healthfully age. Just a good thing

(25:35):
to do. And we're going to have this great special
today available to you through the holidays. I know what
you mentioned until the end of the month, but really,
you know, the end of the month is here. If
you get it on the schedule before the end of
the calendar year, we will honor this promotion. So just

(25:56):
give us a call by one o'clock today.

Speaker 1 (25:59):
Yeah, it is too good to miss. The promo is
five hundred dollars off per device on the Best Series
package and twenty four months no interest financing with approved credit.
You've got a call by one o'clock. Get it on
the calendar before the end of the year so you
can take advantage. It's so great and of course the

(26:20):
hearing exam is absolutely free, completely complimentary with Concept. How
to get a hold of them eight seven seven six
three two thirty six ninety that's eight seven seven six
three two thirty six ninety or their website Iowa Hearing
dot com. That's Iowa Hearing dot com. Kat Klower, thank

(26:42):
you so much for all of your great insights. I
pick up tips every time you're here. Of course, she's
a hearing instrument specialist with Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers.
Thanks again, Kat, You're.

Speaker 2 (26:53):
Welcome and everyone enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday.

Speaker 1 (26:56):
Listen and Learn is brought to us by Concept by
Iowa here Centers on WOC