HHA Advocates for Awareness at Lahore ENT Conference
Aligning with World Hearing Day, the Hearing Healthcare Alliance made a significant contribution to the 32nd National Conference of Otorhinolaryngology in Lahore on February 24, 2024. The conference spotlighted three panel discussions emphasising the critical need for newborn hearing screening and rehabilitation for hearing device users.
Temporal Bone Lab Training at Jinnah Hospital Lahore
Twelve ENT surgeons from Pakistan took part in a Temporal Bone Laboratory training in February. The Hearing Healthcare Alliance joined forces with the 32nd National Conference of Otorhinolaryngology to train surgeons in advanced ear surgery techniques. On February 21 and 22, 2024, Jinnah Hospital Lahore hosted this workshop where the twelve ENT surgeons honed their skills, while an additional five observers absorbed valuable insights.
Public Health Workshop in Pakistan
Hearing impairment needs a public health response because its causes and consequences are many and varied. The specialist skills needed for this task were the subject of the Public Health Planning for Hearing Impairment Workshop (PHPHI) in Pakistan held by the HHA and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Coming from across Pakistan, 12 hearing healthcare professionals attended 5 days of intensive training. They heard from 14 leading experts from Pakistan and around the world including Dr Shelly Chadha, Technical Lead for Ear and Hearing Care at the WHO.
PCHR Graduation & PCFS Start
The first one-year PCHR training program in Pakistan successfully finished between 16 and 19 July. In the fourth and final session, held in-person at the Pearl Continental Hotel Lahore, Joanna Shepherd and MaryKay Therres 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.
Audiology Workshop & Needs Assessment
From all over Pakistan, thirty professionals came to Lahore for the second Audiology Updates Workshop at Pearl Continental Hotel. New strategies for daily work with patients were shared over two days, and Alejandra Kontides equipped participants with the latest advances in audiological practice. The special focus was put on objective measurement methods in a fitting workflow and on the importance of understanding the intersections of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology for the successful speech development of a child.
Equipping Clinics with New-born Hearing Screening Devices
Clinics in Lahore and Gambat have added new hearing screening devices to their offerings. Between March 12 and 21 the Ear Foundation Pakistan handed over these devices to representatives of the clinics that participate in the new-born hearing screening pilot program initiated by the Hearing Healthcare Alliance.
Professional Certificate in Hearing Rehabilitation, Pakistan
Sharing the power of language was a major theme of the April PCHR in Pakistan. Speech and Language Therapists from Pakistan workshopped techniques to improve the communication and life experience of children with hearing impairment over six days with the guidance of MED-EL’s in-house rehab experts. Each participant shared a video of a real therapy session which the course then deconstructed minute by minute according to cutting-edge scientific principles.
PCHR Video Workshops
The Professional Certificate in Hearing Rehabilitation (PCHR) is building a highly trained workforce of specialists in Pakistan who will support those with hearing impairment in their rehabilitation journey. In mid-January, the second session of the PCHR took place over 6 half-days of online workshops. The expert team of speech and language therapists from Pakistan shared their practical experiences with each other by analysing videos of real sessions with their patients.