HEARING CONCERN

What do we do ?
Membership

As a grass roots organization we encourage the development of local clubs and groups. As a campaigning organization an active membership, through clubs and General Members, is vital. It is the members who raise the subjects for campaigns and who are best able to support our efforts. This is why we need to have a vigorous and active membership.

Hearing advice service

The Hearing Advice Service is a major part of our work and, it will help to break it down into sections.

• The first, because in most cases it is the first line of contact, are the general and specific enquiries and requests wffich the Association receives: either by letter, telephone or personal callers. These can range from the simpler "where can I get information about hearing loss", to the more complex cases involving social issues and working with other agencies. In many cases this may be the first time that somebodv has plucked up enough courage to do something about their problem, so it is crucially important that we deal with them professionally.
• Our National Hearing Helpline, which has been running since October 1996 and now from Hearing Concern's head office, expands this role, The Helpline is an exciting project, and one which has raised Hearing Concem's profile, whilst at the same time providing much needed advice, support and information to deaf and hard of hearing people across the country.
• Our Adviser Network comes next. Established in 1965, these are individuals around the country who have been selected and trained to help and advise first time hearing aid users and those who may experience difficulty in coming to terms with their hearing loss or the use of their hearing aid. They are practically all hearing aid users themselves so are able to converse and . discuss with others on equal terms. We have recently upgraded our Adviser training to meet a revised standard of quality assurance, and recently the training was endorsed by the Department of Health. The number of trained Advisers numbers is now well over 100 and increasing. The Helpline can link callers with Advisers in their local area.
• Work with Volunteer Support Schemes is also carried under the auspices of this department, There are schemes run by Audiology Departments, Hearing Therapists and Social Workers, to provide domiciliary and other support to the Professionals. The basic idea is to use volunteers to carry out routine tasks in the home or local clinic thus releasing the professional to deal with the urgent and more exacting work. We provide training for organisations wishing to set-up such schemes, as well as training for the actual volunteers themselves.
• The creation of the Training Services division within the Hearing Advice Service is a new development. It has been recognized that we have a lot of in house training expertise, and this is to be marketed to provide us with an income which will support our more generalized welfare services. We will be providing training to organisations and individuals covering three main areas;
  1) Volunteers and Volunteer Management,
  2) Communication Training (distinct from the Sympathetic Hearing Scheme, e.g.. training overhead projector writers)
  3) Deafness and Coping Strategies.
• Finally, the Hearing Advice Service works with other statutory and voluntary agencies (often up to government level) on many different projects throughout the year. Recent examples include evaluating Social Service provision for deaf and hard of hearing people, and taking part in research which it is hoped will lead to the development of a new NVQ in sensory impainnent.

Technical

Over recent years the Association's Technical panels have earned considerable respect. We have three committees, Technical, Telecommunications and Broadcasting which are deeply involved in current and future developments.

The Technical Committee is the largest, with about 14 highly qualified electrical and electronic engineers, who are all deaf to some degree, and are looking at a wide range of subjects.

The committee currently has three main projects;

1. 'Speech Recognition', which involves researching through abstracts of research papers that have been issued world wide.
2. 'Evaluation of Hearing Aids with Advanced Technology', this involves liaising with research organizations in industry and universities. Where possible encouragement and help is given.
3. 'Appraisal of Induction Loops and Infra red Systems', involves assessing how the systems are used in public places, eg. auditoriums, theatres etc.

The committee has undertaken a 'National Survey into the Use of Hearing Aids'. This is an authoritative document that has recently been published.

A small group of the committee joined the British Standards Institute n Panel, The Panel produced and published a code of practice for the installation of loop equipment.

The Telecommunication Committee deals with all problems and matters relating to the telephone. They have been responsible for the provision of inductive coupling in all public telephones.

This committee has grown in size and is very active in ensuring that we will always have hearing aid compatible telephones. it works closely with BT and Mercury and is part of the OFTEL telephone watch dog committee and particularly the Working Group for the Hearing Impaired.

Our Broadcast Committee has played an important part in the development of television for hard of hearing people and this can be seen each day by the vastly increased number of subtitled programmes. There are also ongoing discussions with the broadcast companies on the level of background noise in programmes which makes speech difficult to understand.

Sympathetic hearing scheme

This is the Deaf Awareness Project of Hearing Concern which aims to break down communication barriers between hearing people and deaf and hard of hearing people.

A card is provided for deaf and hard of hearing people to carry, to indicate their communication needs to service providers. Members of the public are therefore encouraged to let them know about their hearing loss.

A major part of this work involves making hearing people more aware. Deaf awareness training is provided nationally to a wide variety of organisations. This training covers all types and aspects of hearing loss and deafness to increase awareness and improve communication skills. Many organisations, including government departments, local and regional authorities, retail outlets, banks, museums, libraries and the leisure industry are now establishing deaf awareness as part of their customer care policies as a result of their training.

.A nationwide network of volunteers trainers has been developed to expand Hearing Concem's deaf awareness project on a local basis.

Finally, Sympathetic Hearing Scheme staff continue to be involved in a number of access projects at all levels.

Campaigns

Subjects include the shortcomings in many audiology units and hearing aid clinics, the problem of badly fitting or inadequate hearing aids, the shortage of lipreading classes and the widely differing charges, the need to train more lipreading teachers, the need for funding to train lipspeakers, Government legislation, legal proceedings, a national standard for the issue of enviromnental aids by local authorities, background noise on television and radio, the problems of noise in the environment to name just some of the things which concern us all.

There are issues which we may need to deal with on our own for various reasons or we may want to join with another organization. as we have with the Association of Teachers of Lipreading to Adults on the question question of Lipreading Teachers, lipreading classes and their funding.

In addition to all of this we need lipspeakers and the provision for their training. The Association has been instrumental in the development of the skill and has, over a period, brought the training to a very high standard. But, there is not, and has never been, any serious fundina to support the development, training and provision for this important means of communication.

Young people

Every organization needs to regenerate itself and we are no exception, and part of that regeneration must be to attract young people as members and encourage their development.

We have an active young people's Executive Committee which organizes Hearing Aided Young Adults (HAYA). They arrange a programme of events that are attractive to younger people and also have representation into Hearing Concem's Board of Trustees and it's National Advisory Council. They also help to co-ordinate Hearing Concern's Information Exchange Weekends, a national training programme.

It is essential that we attract more young people to help us plan for the long terin future. So, if you know any young hearing aid users please encourage them to join us. Recently a group has been developed known as "Thirty Plus" to meet the needs of people over thirty who want to meet up socially.

The education committee

We also have our Education Committee which, in addition to organizing the annual Lipreading and Clear Speech Competition, arranges training courses for club officers and committee members. It also maintains links with other national organizations in the education field.

"Hearing Concern" magazine

We keep our members up to date and aware of what is happening. They receive copies of Hearing Concern magazine, conference details and other news and information they would fmd interesting. The magazine is distributed FREE of charge to members

The annual general meeting & conference

There is, of course, the AGNVConference which allows the membership to debate and influence the role of Hearing Concern and instruct the National Advisory Council on matters relevant to hearing impaired people and the future of Hearing Concern. Members who attend have voting rights.

Conclusion

Deaf people and people with a hearing loss form the largest group in society with a sensory impairment. Sadly, their needs are not widely understood and rarely evoke charisma. Our aim is to provide all the help we can. That is quite a work load and we are conscious of the fact that we should be doing more still for which we need even more resources. Thank you for your continuing support.

Hearing Concern
7-11 Armstrong Road
London
W3 7LJ

020-8743 1110
020-8742 9151 (minicom)
01245 344600 (helpline)
020-8742 9043
hearing.concern@ukonline.co.uk
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/
hearing.concern

Associated Medical Information