Region Dalarna plans to strengthen hearing care through targeted investments in the 2026 budget. This includes recruiting more audiologists to reduce waiting times. Efforts have already shortened queues, but challenges persist due to the pandemic and an aging population.
Hearing care in Dalarna has been marked by long waiting times in recent years, a criticism that Sofia Jarl (C), chair of the health and medical care committee in Region Dalarna, describes as justified. No one should have to wait unreasonably long for help with their hearing, she emphasizes in an article in Dala-Demokraten.
Region Dalarna has prioritized strengthening the service step by step during the mandate period. In the 2026 budget, extra resources are allocated specifically for hearing care, enabling the recruitment of more audiologists. More specialists mean more patients can be treated and waiting times can be shortened successively.
Parallel to this, hearing care has been developed through an action plan focused on accessibility. The operations prioritize new visits, improve planning and follow-up, and collaborate more closely with primary care. These measures are starting to yield results: queues have decreased compared to previous years, and waiting times have shortened, though more work is needed to achieve full accessibility.
The background to the challenges is national. The pandemic created a large care debt across the country, while the need for hearing care increases with an aging population and a shortage of competence. For the Center Party, the direction is clear: care should be close to people and function in everyday life. The party advocates strengthening competence supply, developing working methods, collaborating between competencies, and using new technology to free up time for staff.
A good life in Dalarna is about participation in family, work, and society, where hearing plays a central role in quality of life. Jarl stresses that care must develop in pace with people's needs to provide security throughout the region.
Being able to hear one's grandchildren laugh, participate in conversations around the dinner table, or follow a meeting at work. For those living with hearing impairment, it's not about small things; it's about participation, security, and quality of life.
(Sofia Jarl, Dala-Demokraten)
