Too many gaps in awareness
by Sue Archbold The Ear Foundation
Very few people in the UK know exactly how many people have a Baha and they are always surprised by the figures – but they know even less about the criteria and the hearing conditions which can be helped by having a Baha implant.
There are gaps in awareness spread right across the professions, from GPs, to audiologists and teachers of the deaf and hospital ENT departments. This is not a criticiscm – where a hospital doesn’t have a Baha programme there is no reason why ENT professionals would necessarily know about Baha when they are involved with the many other procedures available to help the myriad of deaf and hearing impairment conditions. School teachers are now becoming more aware of children with Baha, but know little about how to help these children maximise the benefits of the device.
So for these reasons, The Ear Foundation is looking at ways to actively become involved in raising awareness of Baha, along with the product’s manufacturers, Cochlear. We have been involved with adults and families of children with cochlear implants for many years, so this move is a natural progression for us. We already have a strong network of partnerships with teachers of the deaf and speech and language therapists dealing with cochlear implants. Using our existing experience in the field of hearing impairment and training professionals in this area, we will be running our first course for anyone involved with Baha in June – the first, we hope, of many training sessions to help raise awareness of the Baha procedure.
