Audiologists play an important role in providing accessibility in our communities for people who are Deaf/deaf and hard of hearing. Audiologists are the hearing health care professionals who, individually and as part of a team, provide assessment, treatment, and education to prevent and manage hearing and balance disorders. For more information about the field of Audiology, click on the following links:
Tips Audiologists Can Do To Improve Accessibility In Their Community
1. Audiologists can advocate for greater accessibility in their community by understanding and advocating for federal and provincial accessibility laws for people who are Deaf/deaf and hard of hearing.
2. Audiologists can promote the use of loop systems in their community. Loop systems are the preferred technology to use in noisy, spacious, and highly reverberant acoustic environments such as theatres, conference rooms, places of worship, and point of sale counters because it creates a standardized, non-technical, efficient approach. Loop systems reduce the extra steps required compared to personal devices that require constant self-disclosure and education of strangers on how to use them. Putting all the onus of accessibility on the patient creates barriers. Here are the advantages of loop systems (see link below for full details):
They are universal and directly compatible with any brand of hearing aid or implant that has a telecoil.
They are dignified in that they do not require the hearing instrument user to call attention to him or herself.
They are convenient in that they do not require the user to take the time to borrow and return portable receiving units and coupling devices.
They are easy to use in transient communication situations such as service desks and kiosks.
They are elegant in design and do not require an undue amount of training for either users or installers.
3. Hearing-aid adoption can be significantly improved by increasing the utility of hearing aids for people with hearing loss. Audiologists can promote the purchase and activation of hearing aids or cochlear implants with telecoils which allow their patients to hear and understand better in acoustic environments that are noisy, spacious, and highly reverberant. Audiologists play an important role in increasing accessibility by programming telecoils and educating patients on how to connect their devices with loop systems or FM/IR systems (with neck loops or silhouettes) at home and in their community.
4. Audiologists can provide greater accessibility in their own clinic by ensuring it has accessible equipment such as counter loop systems at service desks, loop systems in meeting or counseling rooms, soundfield systems, amplified telephones for public use, alerting devices for fire safety, and accessible websites that include closed captioning. This also serves to create a model for other businesses in the community to recognize the importance of reducing barriers for people who are Hard of Hearing.
5. Audiologists can provide greater access by having demonstration models of accessible devices in their waiting or counseling rooms, other than hearing aids, such as alerting devices, amplified telephones, television listeners, and personal sound amplifiers.
6. Audiologists can educate patients about their accessibility rights and promote they use the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association (CHHA) Accessibility Checklist in their community to advocate for others who are Deaf/deaf or hard of hearing. The checklist can be found at: http://chha.ca/documents/communication_checklist.pdf
7. Audiologists should provide extensive training on accessibility in Audiology university programs and promote reducing barriers for people who are Deaf/deaf and hard of hearing in the community to other health care professional training programs.
8. Audiologists should take sign language courses to familiarize themselves with basic signs to connect better with patients whose primary mode of communication is sign language. Ensure patients have access to sign language interpreting services in your clinic if they need it prior to their medical appointment. Also, mailing out case history forms or instruction sheets for tests ahead of time can help familiarize people with topics of conversation ahead of the appointment.
9. Audiologists can encourage hearing dogs to accompany people during their appointment.
10. Audiologists can develop new or revised policies, practices, procedures to train all staff on how to keep with the principles of dignity, independence, integration and equal opportunity.
11. Audiologists can provide an opportunity for their patients and their family to provide feedback on barriers to accessibility at their facility. Improving access cannot happen without understanding the needs and concerns of the people you want to serve.
12. Audiologists can provide their patients with a list of regional and national resources such as support groups, speech/lip reading services, aural rehabilitation groups, CHHA chapter groups, other non-profit groups, work place support programs, funding resources for hearing aids, information websites, and mental health resources.
