Healthcare
Expanding Indigenous-led hearing care services to remote communities
(Above) Photo by: Cheryl Macdonald
The World Wide Hearing Foundation works with Canadian Indigenous communities and hearing health professionals to build, pilot, and scale innovative solutions that provide sustainable Indigenous-led hearing care services. According to the organisation, there is an increased prevalence of hearing loss in Indigenous children in some communities across Canada due to their higher predisposition to chronic ear infections.
Restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically impacted services provided by audiologists in these regions. By using the latest technologies in the field, the World Wide Hearing Foundation’s Indigenous Hearing Health Initiative aims to adapt them to the reality of remote Canadian communities.
Through a $85,322 provincial grant from TELUS Friendly Future Foundation, two thousand First Nations children in remote communities in northern Quebec and northern Ontario will have access to culturally relevant hearing health education, screening and early interventions for children and youth who need it. The World Wide Hearing Foundation audiologists plan to also train community leaders to provide year-round support for people who are at-risk or are living with hearing loss.
"This funding from TELUS Friendly Future Foundation will enable World Wide Hearing to create training videos that will allow teachers and educators in remote Indigenous communities to have access to critical information about hearing care. Teachers will learn how to better communicate with and support their students living with hearing loss. This will empower children with hearing loss to thrive and achieve their full potential."
- Audra Renyi, Executive Director, World Wide Hearing Foundation
TELUS Friendly Future Foundation is proud to support the World Wide Hearing Foundation in developing sustainable Indigenous-led hearing care services in high-needs communities in northern Quebec and northern Ontario.
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