Steamboat Springs, Colo., May 20, 2019 — The Routt County Council on Aging and hearOclub, which provides hearing aid and cochlear implant batteries via a mail delivery subscription service, announced they are partnering to better the lives of Routt County seniors by working together to eliminate “hearing emergencies.” Hearing emergencies occur when users of hearing aids or cochlear implants are unable to participate in their daily lives due to battery failure in their hearing devices, which diminishes their ability to hear and communicate. hearOclub members receive automatic delivery of hearing device batteries in the mail, so they are assured of a consistent and reliable supply of fresh batteries. Under the new partnership between hearOclub and RCCOA, hearOclub is offering new members who enter the code RCCOA at checkout free delivery of their first shipment of batteries and a free battery testing keychain that holds spare hearing device batteries. In addition, hearOclub is donating 10 percent of its sales from Routt County seniors to the RCCOA.
hearOclub Helps People Have Access to Hearing Aid Batteries
“We started hearOclub as a way to help people who didn’t have a way to get a supply of batteries for themselves when they would run out. We thought this would help people become more engaging socially and would end their hearing emergencies, which have a major impact on peoples’ lives beyond their ability to socialize,” hearOclub co-founder Bob Pole said. “We are excited to work with the Routt County Council on Aging to enrich the lives of local seniors by helping to minimize their hearing emergencies.”
“Routt County is a rural part of Colorado, so our seniors who don’t drive depend on our transportation service to get around town,” RCCOA Executive Director Meg Tully said. “If a client runs out of hearing aid batteries at night, they’d have to wait until the next time we can pick them up to purchase new batteries. This delay can be dangerous if a senior needs help, and it also can lead to a period of unnecessary frustration.”
Access to Hearing Improves The Health of Elders
Steamboat Springs-based physician Brian Harrington, MD, MPH, has seen firsthand the vital importance of patients having a consistent supply of hearing aid batteries. “Some of my patients rely on alarms to remind them when to take pills or if their blood sugar is low,” Dr. Harrington said. “Temporary hearing loss puts such patients at risk for adverse health outcomes.” He added that beyond the acute health danger posed by hearing emergencies, seniors’ social engagement can also be negatively affected, which can hurt their mental health and cognitive function over the long term. “The Blue Zones concepts emphasize that social engagement is one of the key traits of people who live long and well, and uninterrupted hearing is vital for social engagement,” Dr. Harrington said. ” I know many patients who avoided social interaction because they could not hear well.”
About hearOclub
Founded in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, in 2018, hearOclub provides a subscription service that allows users of hearing aids and cochlear implants to receive automatic mail delivery of their device batteries upon a regular schedule. In addition to no longer having to keep track of their batteries, hearOclub members pay less for batteries than they would in a drug store, and do not have to pay sales tax or shipping costs. The company is dedicated to combating the occurrence of hearing emergencies, which negatively impact quality of life and which research has shown can increase the incidence of dementia, depression, fall frequency, and cardiovascular disease.
About The Routt County Council on Aging
Routt County Council on Aging is an independent 501 (c)3 nonprofit organization that serves Routt County, Colorado. Its mission is to determine the needs of the senior citizens in Routt County and to make every effort to meet those needs with appropriate action.
Info on the Routt County Council on Aging:
https://www.rccoaging.org/
