Are you an older adult or care about someone who is? Then falling is likely high on your list of worries. And for good reason. According to the National Council on Aging1:
- Every 11 seconds, an older adult is treated in an emergency room for a fall-related injury.
- Falls are the leading cause of fatal and non-fatal injuries for older Americans.
Accidental falls pose a significant health risk to older adults. They often lead to a loss of independence, and can abruptly alter the course of one’s life. Nearly 40 percent of people who live at home after reaching the age of 65 will fall at least once a year.2
Hearing loss is linked to increased risk of risk of falls
There are many reasons why older adults are prone to falling, including medication side effects, vision problems, slower reflexes and more. One known reason is hearing loss. In fact, studies have shown that people with mild hearing loss are three times more likely to have a history of falling than peers with normal hearing.3
This correlation between hearing loss, aging and falling is why Starkey designed the world’s first and only hearing aid with a fall detection and alert feature.
Evolv AI hearing aids can help alleviate fall worries
Utilizing Evolv AI’s built-in 3D sensors, the engineers at Starkey integrated technology that give them the ability to detect when a wearer falls, and send alert messages to selected family members or caregivers.
Now, not only will wearers benefit from our best sounding hearing aid ever, they and their loved ones can also enjoy increased peace of mind by alleviating worries about falls and helping wearers feel more independent.
Hearing aids are ideal for detecting falls
Knowing the odds of having hearing loss and falling increase as we age, we engineered a single device that can help with multiple aging issues — eliminating the need and inconvenience of wearing a different device for each.
Plus, unlike other fall-detection devices which hang around the neck or are worn on the wrist, Evolv AI benefits from the anatomy and physiology of the human body. During typical, daily activities and instances of falls, muscles in the neck work with the balance system of the inner ear to protect and stabilize the head.
Since hearing aids are worn on the head, they are naturally less prone to mistake daily activities for falls than the devices worn on other parts of the body.4
Here's how Evolv AI’s fall detection and alert feature works:
- The hearing aid wearer selects up to three contacts to be notified if they fall.
- They (or their hearing professional) can enter contacts easily into the Thrive Hearing Control app.
- The auto alert feature automatically sends an alert if the hearing aid wearer falls.
- The alert contains the GPS location of the wearer.
- The caretaker can then immediately call the wearer back to check on them or otherwise get them help.
- The manual alert feature allows the wearer to simply tap their hearing aid to send an alert for a fall or non-fall related event.
Listen, there’s plenty of stuff to worry about as we get older. Why not worry less about unattended falls and hearing loss if you can?
Want to experience the fall detection and alert feature in Evolv AI hearing aids for yourself? We can help. Simply type your zip code in here and you’ll find a list of local hearing professionals and audiologists who can demonstrate our latest hearing aid technology and let you try it for at least 30 days. Professional fees may apply.
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