By Nik Rawlinson

What you need: A smartphone or PC; hearing aid or earbuds Time required: Two hours

A third of the UK population is living with hearing loss. It’s around half for those aged 55 or higher, and 80 per cent for the over-70s (see www.snipca.com/52872).

Impairments of this kind can have profound effects on sufferers. When it’s hard to hear what’s going on in noisy surroundings, it’s also difficult to join in with conversations. You might miss out on important information, or choose not to socialise so often, which can ultimately lead to being cut off and feeling isolated.

It can also be hard work for those living with someone with hearing loss. Saying things several times over gets tiring, while being forced to share a TV that has the volume turned up can be uncomfortable – and could even be putting the hearing of the non-impaired viewer at risk.

The most obvious solution would be for the hearing-impaired family member to use a hearing aid. These are available for free if an NHS hearing assessment, which is available via a GP referral, shows it would be helpful (www.snipca. com/52873).

If you qualify, repairs are also free, and you’ll receive a free, ongoing supply of batteries. The kind of hearing aid funded by the NHS is usually a behind-the-ear (BTE) putty-coloured device, with a transparent tube feeding into the ear canal.

As an alternative, you could try to find out whether the tech you already own could do the job. Here, we’ll explain how you can connect standard hearing aids directly to a smartphone or computer. Then we’ll explore the features that are built into earbuds, computers and smartphones that mimic many of the features of a hearing aid.

Naturally, if you already own such a device, or you’re intending to buy one, you could use it without having first had a hearing assessment, although we wouldn’t advise it. An assessment may reveal a more serious underlying condition than hearing loss due to ageing.