University of NottinghamResearchGroupshs-predictBlog PostsChanging Mindsets - Public Engagement Event 2024

This year, the Hearing Sciences lab had the privilege of celebrating World Hearing Day, as an official part of the World Health Organization’s 2024 events. Our lab’s event followed WHO’s 2024 theme, i.e., changing mindsets. Aligning with the theme, we decided to flip the usual go-to script from reactive to proactive hearing care. We designed the event to focus on the positives of hearing and the importance of hearing care. Our attendees were given a platform to share their personal experiences at the event. The discussions revolved around their experiences of getting their hearing checked, the encouraging factors that led to their hearing checkup, and how using a hearing aid has improved their and their loved ones' lives.

The event's main objective was to co-create informational material, such as flyers & posters, based on the real-life experiences shared by the attendees. The purpose of these materials would be to emphasize the importance of getting your hearing checked and to encourage others who may be hesitant or unaware of the importance of hearing health and to engage with hearing services. In time, we hope to distribute these flyers among communities which are most likely to experience disparities in hearing health, such as ethnic and racial minorities (Nieman et al., 2016; Taylor et al., 2023), including signposting them towards resources to help them to take control of their hearing health.

The event featured engaging discussions that offered valuable insights. Participants shared how hearing aids have impacted their life.

There were also family members in attendance, and it was impactful to hear their experiences of living with someone who has a hearing impairment. One of the attendees shared: "Living with a hearing aid user has taught me how to listen."

During the discussion, there was an emphasis on the importance of including hearing checks as part of routine health checkups. To illustrate this, participants highlighted the analogy of regular dental check-ups and proposed that hearing checkups should similarly be integrated into standard health assessments.

The event emphasized the advantages of good hearing, such as enjoying the sound of rain and birds singing, participating in group gatherings, and socializing. Attendees also discussed how new technology is assisting them in noisy environments like pubs and family gatherings.

Keeping in mind our goal of developing informational material, we wanted to hear how the illustrations used on current hearing-related posters made our attendees feel (Yes, the old person in the depths of despair getting shouted at by someone using a megaphone turned out to be unpopular. Who would've thought?).  Furthermore, our incredible attendees shared ideas for illustrations that might help encourage young people to get their hearing checked!

Photography exhibition. Continuing with last year's exhibition, we provided the platform for our research panel to express their hearing experience through the art of photography. This year's event theme for the photography exhibition was ‘considering the positives of your hearing.' The submissions creatively captured moments ranging from the use of sound at protests to the role of hearing aids when playing the piano. These submissions were included in this year's thank you cards for our attendees as we are always very grateful for their valuable contributions!

Conclusion. We are at the stage of collating the information contributed by the attendees regarding content & visuals and we're excited to share the material that comes out of it. In short, we're enthusiastic to play our little role in changing mindsets when it comes to hearing health.