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A Genworth executive who went deaf in one ear has advised brokers with hearing problems to seek help during Hearing Awareness Week.
Chief operating officer Tobin Fonseca said people who experience slow declines in their hearing often wait until they are really struggling before they do something about it.
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“There are a many different options you can explore when you begin to experience hearing loss; it's first step admitting your hearing loss, second step seeing a hearing professional,” he said.
Hearing Awareness Week is a national campaign that runs from August 24 to 30. About 15 per cent of Australians suffer from hearing problems, according to campaign literature.
Mr Fonseca told The Adviser that he was lucky in some ways because his hearing loss was sudden and compelled him to seek help.
“I boarded a plane in 2012 with full hearing and left the plane with hearing in only one ear, which was later diagnosed as Ménière’s disease,” he said.
Mr Fonseca said his business and personal life was affected during the four months that passed before he received a cochlear implant.
“I found it extremely difficult to hear in meetings, and I couldn’t hear my executive assistant talk to me despite only sitting 1.5 metres from my desk on the left side,” he said.
“It’s difficult for people to understand the issues associated with single-sided deafness, and I found myself becoming very frustrated and agitated at my hearing loss.
“This also created issues at home. My partner would speak to me while walking away or from another room and it was virtually impossible to even know that I was being spoken to let alone hear what was being said.”
[Related: Strong housing market delivers big profit for Genworth]
