LACOMBE, Alta. (Staff) – A farm women’s organization is hoping farm kids will take a hike – a hearing hike.
Women of Unifarm is in the final stages of its partnership to develop a farm hike to help kids recognize loud sounds that contribute to hearing loss.
Susan Haske, a professor in the department of speech pathology and audiology at the University of Alberta told the Women of Unifarm convention that when the next generation grows up, there should be no more hearing loss due to farm noise.
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With the help of the farm women’s group, Haske and others will be putting the final touches on a hearing hike for 4-H members this fall.
In August, volunteers from the Women of Unifarm will deliver the hiking kit to 4-H families. The kit, which includes a noise meter, will be used by the family to detect loud noises on the farm.
“Over time eventually all 4-H groups could go through a hearing safety hunt,” said Haske.
By age 30 most farmers are starting to have hearing loss. By 40 there is significant high frequency hearing loss in farmers. High frequency hearing continues to decline in farmers as the number of years without hearing protection increases, according to research by Sask-atchewan’s Centre for Agricultural Medicine.
“That’s a real problem,” said Haske.
Once the kit is finished, Haske hopes farm families from around the world will be interested in it. Noise is the same around the world, she said.
