One of the issues I often encounter with churches is helping older people hear the service clearly.
Age related hearing loss is called Presbycusis, and is marked by the following problems:
• sounds or speech becoming dull, muffled or attenuated
• need for increased volume on television, radio, music and other audio sources
• difficulty using the telephone
• loss of directionality of sound
• difficulty understanding speech, especially women and children
• difficulty in speech discrimination against background noise
(Source – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbycusis)
Often I’m asked if we can “fix the sound system” so that older people can hear. However, this is generally troublesome for a the following reasons.
1. If I re-tune your system to compensate for hearing loss frequencies, it will become harsh and unpleasant for all other listeners in your congregation.
2. The volumes needed for some older listeners can be uncomfortably loud for other members.
3. Sanctuaries often contribute to hearing difficulty because of reflections and echo.
4. The sound system cannot compensate for speech discrimination in older members. Speech discrimination often has to do with how the brain processes auditory information. It’s a complex topic beyond the scope of this post.
So what do I recommend? A hearing assistance systems. These have several advantages.
1. They let you create an individualized audio feed that has more emphasis on higher frequencies to compensate for hearing loss.
2. They let the user control their own volume.
3. They isolate the user from the room, so that they only hear what the microphone hears. This may help in some cases of speech discrimination but not all cases unfortunately.
You can lead a horse to water…
I’ve found on several occasions that older people are embarrassed or maybe too stubborn to try out a hearing assistance system. One older lady told me that she was worried the headphones would mess up her hair. These are issues that are typically best handled from a Pastoral perspective.
Finally, if you already have a hearing assistance system, test it regularly. I’ve often seen some systems in very poor repair with broken antennas, noisy packs and other issues. Give a younger person a pack and have them listen through a service to make sure that everything is working properly and that you not missing something (good volume, no interference, equipment works properly, all the mics are heard correctly, ect.)
If you don’t already have one, consider adding hearing assistance system. There are several types and we can help you find the one that works best for your application.