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Toowoomba, QUEENSLAND

Volunteers promote hearing for life - The Advance Active Ageing Project

Hearing impaired veterans in the south west of Queensland are rediscovering the joys of conversation thanks to a project being conducted by volunteers from the RAAF Association, Toowomba Branch with a Veteran & Community Grant.

This project provides information and support to veterans with acquired hearing loss through workshops in Toowoomba and the surrounding regions.

Volunteers, who themselves are hearing impaired, have been trained by Better Hearing Australia to visit small communities and provide information about the many types of hearing loss and the aids and treatments available.

The grant has enabled the group to purchase a hearing augmentation system, which allows veterans to hear with the use of special headphones and the T-switch facility on hearing aids.

Volunteer and project manager Norm Collier says the workshops and equipment are providing veterans with a new lease on life and giving relief to partners, carers and health care professionals.

"Through these workshops we've been able to demystify the use of hearing aids and other hearing devices. We're getting them out of the top drawer and into people's ears."

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According to Norm, a recent survey of 200 veterans by the RAAF Association revealed 80 percent suffered significant hearing loss and only 68 per cent used their hearing aids.

"We knew there was a significant problem in the veteran community and realised that with grant funding we could do something to address it."

It was agreed that concerns about veterans' acceptance and use of hearing devices could be promoted through workshops, where participants would have the chance to have hands-on learning experiences.

One veteran at the association's first workshop in Toowoomba got the surprise of his life when he was asked to try the augmentation hearing device. "He was laughing and laughing ... he was hearing jokes he had been unable to hear in many, many years."

Norm says this grassroots project is changing people's lives and already new volunteers have put up their hands to be trained in the delivery of workshop material, enabling the project to continue well into the future.

"There have been some barriers to overcome in terms of training volunteers and delivering the project, but the outcomes are tremendous," he says.

"Everyone is gaining immense satisfaction from seeing the hard work pay off."

Hear the difference!

Project: educating people with an acquired hearing loss and their hearing partners about deafness and the aid options available; improving quality of life.

Grant value: $12,496

Community benefits: improved communication between veterans, their families and the community; better quality of life and awareness of the benefits achieved through personal volunteering.

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