A new initiative by Utah-based communications company Sorenson, called the Sound Off Project, is seeking to increase awareness and help for veterans facing hearing loss.
Rates of hearing loss in veterans tend to be extremely high. Research has found that around 50% of veterans are diagnosed with hearing loss and many more report symptoms of tinnitus — ringing or buzzing in the ears.
Sorenson’s Director of the Veterans Initiative and Military Sales Dewie Vieira spoke with UPR on the importance and goals of this new project.
“The amount of hearing loss suffered by the veteran community is significant. And it's one of those, I guess you could say, almost unspoken or unknown health issues that a lot of veterans don't even know that they are actually experiencing,” Vieira said.
The goal of Sorenson’s Sound Off Project is to provide resources to veterans as well as increase awareness of potential hearing loss.
“It helps build a community within the veteran community so that those who are suffering from hearing loss or experiencing hearing loss have a place that they can go to actually share their thoughts, their concerns, their issues,” said Vieira. “It's a place where they can go to seek assistance and to seek information, and to actually even seek affirmation as to whether or not what it is that they're experiencing is, in fact, hearing loss.”
The project was given the name “Sound Off Project” as “sound off” is a very familiar term to many veterans, referring to vocalization of readiness to perform, but also more generally to the expression of feelings or concerns without fear. The primary goal of the initiative is to provide evolving support and resources in regard to hearing loss, for the veteran community nationwide.
Nathaniel Free is Sorenson’s communications and PR manager, as well as a veteran himself. Free shared his insights on the veteran population here in Utah and how important this project is on a local scale.
“We're all familiar with the booms that we hear, they make the news all the time. Those are from our Utah artillery, we jokingly call it America's thunder, right? It's our service members doing what they do best and training to protect the American people. But also those booms can be very damaging to hearing, if soldiers aren't taking the necessary precautions to protect themselves, they can turn into long term problems, like what do we describe as tinnitus? It's a very common issue for our Utah based service members,” Free explained.
Find more information here on Sorenson’s Sound Off Project.
