NAERUM, DK—Hearing healthcare providers, patients and their families, and students are being enlisted into a global online campaign that will identify the best ideas for encouraging people to take action, change public perception, and generate better understanding of hearing loss. This innovative idea-generating effort will be launched next month in Boston during AudiologyNOW! 2012, the American Academy of Audiology (AAA) Annual Convention.
Funding for the project is being provided by a grant from the Oticon Foundation to the Ida Institute, an independent non-profit educational institute located in Naerum that seeks to foster a better understanding of the human dynamics associated with hearing loss. The institute will apply its unique approach to innovation and collaboration to attractive creative input from a global network of people concerned about hearing loss.
In announcing the project, Niels Boserup, chairman of the Oticon Foundation, said, “We look forward to calling upon the resources of the institute’s extensive global network to help us capture the most effective approaches to increase public understanding of hearing loss and its impact not only on people with hearing loss but on their families, friends, and communities.”
Lise Lotte Bundesen, managing director of the Ida Institute, said, “Our goal is to empower people to take action on hearing loss. We know from our seminars, workshops, and other knowledge-sharing initiatives that our global network can bring an incredible amount of experience, knowledge, and creativity to this exciting new project. Extending our collaborative efforts to the general public will give us even more opportunity to collect awareness-building and educational ideas from around the world.”
OPEN CALL FOR HELP
As part of this initiative, healthcare professionals and other interested individuals and organizations will be invited to submit achievable, ready-to-go ideas and campaign messages that have the potential to build worldwide awareness and educate the general public about hearing loss.
