– by Doreen Marion Gee –
This is part of a rotating series of articles on members of Sidney Meet Up, featuring people in business on the Saanich Peninsula.
Untreated hearing loss is associated with stress, fatigue, depression, isolation and unsafe situations due to reduced alertness (www.sonici.com). The importance of hearing well in our modern world cannot be overstated. Donna Stewart, the audiologist / owner of Hear – Central Saanich, is proud to give people back their quality of life.
Donna has a bachelor’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology (Gerontology minor) and a Masters degree in Audiology (Gerontology concentration). “I am nationally certified and licensed in B.C.” Her passion for audiology started young: “One of my earliest memories was acting as a ‘telephone relay system’ for my mother when I was a preschooler. We would sit face to face on chairs and I would tell her what the caller said and she would tell me how to respond.”
With 25 years’ experience, Donna provides a wide spectrum of services for adults, including hearing loss prevention, identification and rehabilitation. People often see her when they notice a decline in their hearing. They may choose a basic hearing test or a full evaluation if their hearing loss is impacting their ability to communicate. Warning signs of a more serious problem could be difficulty understanding speech within background noise or when not face-to-face, needing the TV volume to be higher than others require, problems with accents, or tinnitus. With less severe loss, hearing conservation and protection are discussed. When hearing aids are indicated, Donna starts that important process with knowledgeable and respectful service.
Donna loves her job: “I honestly enjoy getting to meet new people every day, finding out how their hearing loss affects their daily life, and being able to customize a solution for them.” The all-important pot of gold is “Improving quality of life through better communication.” People are lucky to live in high-tech 2016: “Everyone has a unique situation and it’s wonderful to have access to so many options in this day and age to help.” Welcome to Star Trek: “Current hearing aids are tiny computers … users can expect soft sounds to be audible, speech to be comfortable, and loud sounds to be tolerable.” These mini marvels can automatically adjust settings so that people can hear properly in a crowded noisy room and some hearing aids work with your iPhone or Android device, adding more features.
The gift of hearing from Hear – Central Saanich even extends beyond a fuller, higher quality of life and improved communication: “A just-published study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society is the first to show that wearing hearing aids reduces the rate of cognitive decline associated with hearing loss.”
Donna Stewart plays a vital role in this community.
Contact: www.hearcentralsaanich.com.
