President's Blog
Monday 9th December
This will be the last Horizons and therefore last blog of 2024, no sooner have I started this I get some time off! Previously as we came to the end of the year things would feel like they are slowing down as people get ready to take a bit of a break, the equivalent of looking forward to the day at the end of the school term when it was all party food, concerts and bringing in your favourite games. These days it unfortunately doesn’t feel like that anymore, more like coming to a screeching halt as the bank holidays arrive.
One last flourish in 2024 is the joint statement on the link between adult-onset hearing loss and dementia.
Whilst at the World Congress of Audiology in September one of the keynote speakers showed a full auditorium an advert from a UK based Audiology service about preventing dementia with hearing aids and derided it as scaremongering. Many other speakers across the 3 days referred to this.
Victoria Adshead, our Marketing and Communications manager, highlighted this to the Hearing Loss and Deafness Alliance members on our return. BSA and Kevin Munro then led on the collaborative joint statement. It is now been followed up by looking for other instances of where the research has been possibly misunderstood, for example on some national websites, and informing those bodies of the statement.
One of the most useful parts of the statement is the guidance on what to say to patients, to help you in clinic. Anecdotally we have heard of audiologists promising patients that hearing aids can prevent dementia or stop it getting worse as a way to ensure they take up the offer of aids. This needs to stop. Do have a read of the statement, we have all worked together to ensure it is accessible, and easily understood as possible.
So as the year ends, I hope you all do get some time to rest and spend time enjoying yourselves. It is a time to reflect on all you have achieved over the past year – usually that is more than you realise. The BAA Board are getting ready to start afresh in the new year, we will be channelling Stacey Solomon and having a bit of a Sort Your Life Out Board meeting in January. I have my label machine at the ready.
As ever, you can contact me or any of our board directors here: admin@baaudiology.org
Take care
Claire
BAA President
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