May is Better Hearing and Speech Month. To mark the occasion, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) released some surprising results from a national poll: Many Americans don’t know where to get treatment for speech and hearing disorders.
The national polling commissioned by ASHA and completed by YouGov in March 2022, shows a strong need for public education about treatment services for these disorders. Results of nearly 3,000 American adults ages 18 and older revealed that more than 6 in 10 people (65%) have concern for themselves or for a child, spouse, or older relative in the following areas: balance/risk of falls, hearing/ringing in the ears, cognition, swallowing, and/or speech/language.
The results show that many adults don’t know that audiologists treat balance and hearing problems or speech-language pathologists treat cognitive, swallowing, and speech/language disorders.
At the same time, polling showed that people treated by audiologists and speech-language pathologists reported high satisfaction rates.
Communication disorders are among the most common conditions that people across the age span will experience—affecting tens of millions of Americans each year. Yet many don’t know just how treatable these disorders can be, which is a missed opportunity for those who stand to vastly improve their quality of life with care, said Judy Rich, EdD, CCC-SLP, BCS-CL, 2022 ASHA President.
Polling results
Here are the top findings from the ASHA–YouGov national poll of 2,964 U.S. adults ages 18+.
Many Americans don’t think that common conditions are treatable with audiologist care. More than 1 in 4 Americans (28%) don’t realize that balance issues/risk of falls are treatable by an audiologist. Twenty percent don’t think hearing problems are treatable by audiologists.
People are not sure about where or from whom to seek care for difficulties that are typically treated by speech-language pathologists. One in 4 respondents (25%) are not confident that they know where to go for help with a speech/language disorder. Slightly less (24%) say that they don’t know where to go for help with a cognitive issue—and 21% are not confident where to go for help with a swallowing or eating problem.
During the pandemic, Americans waited to seek help for concerns that could have been treated by audiologists or speech-language pathologists. More than one quarter of adults (29%) said that they delayed such care for themselves for 1 year or longer due to the pandemic. The main reason for delaying treatment was concern about contracting COVID-19 (40%).
Those who have received care from audiologists or speech-language pathologists are highly satisfied. More than three-quarters of people (77%) who received help from an audiologist or speech-language pathologist reported satisfaction with their care.
Americans are open to receiving telehealth treatment services. Close to three-quarters of adults (71%) are at least “somewhat open” to receiving remote (web-based) care via telehealth.
Get answers to your questions
If you have a concern about a communication problem, email or call us. We’ll connect you with one of our audiologists or speech-language pathologists.
