Promoting Healthy Aging in the Audiology Clinic

By Brian Taylor

This article is a part of the May/June, Volume 35, Number 3, Audiology Today issue. 

In January 2021, at the age of 43, Tom Brady became the oldest player to throw a touchdown pass in a National Football League (NFL) playoff game, surpassing a record held by Hall of Famer George Blanda since 1973. Brady’s feat is also the best way to observe how people age today compared to 50 years ago (FIGURE 1). Compare the silky smooth, lineless face of Tom Brady, known to obsess about his diet and exercise routine to the grizzled, leather-faced Blanda, who, like many athletes of his day, probably guzzled beer and smoked cigarettes after the game. 

You might be asking yourself, how are two NFL quarterbacks, separated by nearly 50 years, related to the profession of audiology? The best answer to this question is healthy aging. The differences in their appearance, as illustrated in FIGURE 1, demonstrate how society collectively ages in the 2020s compared with the 1970s. It represents how many middle-aged people today have a much different mindset about their health and wellness. You do not have to be the greatest-of-all-time quarterback, with abundant resources and access to the best physical fitness gurus, to tackle aging as a quest to maintain the vigor of a 25-year-old as you reach a chronological age twice that number. 

Healthy aging and the role of the audiologist in this movement is the topic of this article. The healthy aging movement, and its focus on preventive care, health, and wellness, is an opportunity for audiologists to broaden their appeal to individuals who may not have hearing loss or wear hearing aids. Audiologists can provide services that prevent hearing loss and improve quality of life.