Six years ago, just before Amy Evans’ husband switched to a new insurance, she decided to take a couple medical tests to make the most of her coverage. The discovery that she needed hearing aids left her stunned.
“It was a surprise for me, and it usually is for people,” she said.
The test connected all the dots for Evans: missing cricket chirps in the morning and frequently asking her loved ones to repeat themselves. These were all signs of hearing loss.
Now, Evans is on a mission to educate all Granite Staters about impaired hearing with an online resource called NHhears.org. Launched in late July, the site provides information about hearing loss, hearing aids, audiologists, technological advances, advocacy and more.
In partnership with Northeast Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services and supported by the Lions Sight and Hearing Foundation of New Hampshire, Evans’s initiative hopes to answer persistent questions and change the stigma surrounding hearing loss.
“People who just get hearing aids when they’re older… they often don’t identify as hard of hearing or anything. They don’t even want to. So, they are not availing themselves of services,” Evans said.
For Evans, the importance of addressing hearing loss is not only a question of restoring hearing and quality of life — it’s a question of protecting the brain. Unaddressed hearing loss increases a person’s risk of dementia, and Evans references hearing as a muscle that needs to be worked and maintained.
“If we don’t keep hearing [sounds], we forget how to hear them,” she said.
Hearing loss can also lead older people to avoid loud spaces and become further isolated from their communities, which can worsen the problem, according to Evans. She believes committing to making public areas more accessible for people with hearing loss is one solution.
“There’s so many things we can do as a community, and we’re a small community, but we’re a responsive community,” she said.
Almost one-third of the New Hampshire population is 60 years or older, according to the 2025 New Hampshire Healthy Aging Data Report. Evans wants to ensure that this demographic is not forgotten.
She plans to meet with audiologists, the Chamber of Commerce and with Concord city leaders to begin to strategize around a hearing loss awareness campaign.
“Talking to them about this possibility of tweaking things a little bit so that we can share the burden instead of people always trying to hear,” Evans said.
She also hopes to create partnerships with local businesses whose staff practice accessibility for customers with hearing loss. She would provide these businesses with a NHhears decal to place on their floors, signifying to patrons who are hard of hearing that they are welcome in that space.
Evans said businesses and other public spaces can accommodate people with hearing loss by creating quiet spaces in loud restaurants, providing proper light, writing things down or working to rephrase statements instead of repeating.
Her message is as much for businesses and power brokers capable of creating greater accessibility as it is for individuals xoping with hearing loss.
“The important message is: Don’t ignore it, get your hearing checked. Remember, it’s your brain. Don’t suffer. Don’t be alone,” she said.