N107 Nursing Interventions II AY 23-24

Good evening Lyana! Thank you for your very practical question.

Actually, in accordance with the recommendations of the World Health Organization (2015), ​​​adolescents should be educated that the safe listening level for the prevention of hearing loss is 80 decibels for 40 hours a week. Even a small reduction in noise exposure volume and duration can offer significant protection. This can be done by:

1. Setting the volume to no more than 60% of the maximum volume
2. Having short breaks of a few minutes after every hour of listening to reduce overall duration of noise exposure
3. Limiting the daily use of personal audio devices to less than 1 hour a day

In addition, these are some health teachings that can be provided to adolescents to promote safe hearing and reduce the incidence of hearing loss:

1. Discuss the relationship between the frequency of exposure to loud sounds and the risk of hearing loss. Prolonged exposure to loud sounds, especially at high volumes, poses an elevated risk of causing harm to the sensitive structures of the ears, leading to potential hearing loss over time. Teaching adolescents the long-term and severe consequences of their actions in a direct and concise manner makes health education more effective and increases the chances of clients avoiding these harmful behaviors.
2. Educate the client on safe volume levels, duration, and frequency of listening times. This provides individuals with the essential and practical knowledge to actively protect their hearing.
3. Advocate for the use of well-fitted and noise-canceling headphones and demonstrate proper headphone placement. These devices ensure the preservation of hearing health and ensure optimal sound quality without needing to increase the volume levels.
4. Educate regarding the possible signs of hearing loss. Awareness regarding the signs of hearing loss (such as ringing in the ears, difficulty hearing high-pitched sounds, understanding speech, and following conversations in a noisy environment) can promote early diagnosis and treatment or management to prevent further complications.
5. Encourage regular hearing testing. Regular hearing testing may provide information regarding potential problems or pathologic deteriorations in hearing. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association suggests that healthy people who are not experiencing any noticeable hearing loss should avail hearing screening every 3-5 years (Trihealth, 2019).

You may be inclined to learn more about safe listening from the World Health’s Organization campaign, “Make Listening Safe”, which can be accessed through this link: https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/documents/health-topics/deafness-and-hearing-loss/mls-brochure-english-2021.pdf?sfvrsn=bf19b448_5&fbclid=IwAR2P6uycrCNGLf3YXwFB03vqgCP-eQpGZrIWcRAhoCipPrUsA4D8MlK5844

You may also view their FAQs for safe listening: https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/deafness-and-hearing-loss-safe-listening/?fbclid=IwAR1C5SCckNVeY6crbK1h0rM3AaTEptVSA5q1jCPhdCpp8g-af18U5GCn_xM

We hope this sufficiently answers your question! Have a blessed weekend ahead!

References

• TriHealth. (2019, July 3). How often should I have my hearing tested? https://www.trihealth.com/blogs/speech-and-hearing/how-often-should-i-have-my-hearing-tested
• World Health Organization. (2015). Making listening safe. https://www.who.int/activities/making-listening-safe
• World Health Organization. (2022, February 23). Deafness and hearing loss: Safe listening. https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/deafness-and-hearing-loss-safe-listening/?fbclid=IwAR1C5SCckNVeY6crbK1h0rM3AaTEptVSA5q1jCPhdCpp8g-af18U5GCn_xM