The focus of the first day was general practical training and conduct of OAE and ABR measurement methods. The participants learned to make optimal use of the state-of-the-art equipment to ensure the best results of the newborn hearing screening.

The second day was marked with clinical visits to existing and future screening sites at Lahore. The workshop participants were welcomed in General Hospital, Evercare Hospital and Bahria Hospital.

Unfortunately, some of the expected participants could not attend the workshop.  Due to the difficult circumstances of political unrest in the country they didn’t manage to reach Lahore for the training.

In the fourth and final session, held in-person at Ziauddin University Karachi, MaryKay Therres and Sandra Eisner from MED-EL reviewed videos of the participants’ therapy sessions and discussed the outcomes of the final exam. On the last day the certificates were handed over to the graduates in a festive ceremony.

These ten graduates enrich the pioneering team of rehabilitationists in Pakistan who strive to advance the field of Speech-Language Pathology in the country. With their graduation the participants received the Professional Certificate in Family Support (PCFS), which confirms their upgraded qualification. The PCFS graduation means that they are currently equipped with skills and tools to train families and other caretakers in their daily work with children with hearing loss.

To create sustainable change in the hearing and speech rehabilitation, the programme was created that aimed to reach maximum of people who support children and grown-ups suffering from hearing loss and their families. Professional speech therapists who graduated from Professional Certificate in Hearing Rehabilitation (PCHR) in Lahore are now fully equipped to train and regularly support parents and other relatives of children with hearing devices within the newly developed Professional Certificate in Family Support.

The first round of Family Support Workshops held on 29 June 2024 demonstrated the effective outcome of the training programmes. The participating 120 caretakers received useful theoretical knowledge on hearing loss and hearing and speech rehabilitation as well as practical tools, tips, and techniques to use in their everyday activities and communication. This valuable skillset will contribute to the hearing and speech development of their children or family members with hearing loss. Further workshops for caretakers are to follow in the second half of the year.