Sue Archbold, PhD, LLD Coordinator, CI International Community of Action, CIICA.
This conference, organized by Professor Ferdi Grandori and his great team, has long been one of the outstanding conferences over the years. Initially it focused on the major issue of Newborn Hearing Screening and now rightly addressing hearing across the lifespan. The way in which the conference has fostered a collaborative and inclusive atmosphere with time for exchange has attracted many of us – and the venue on Lake Como is a plus! As a teacher of the deaf originally, and part of CI multi-professional activities, the holistic perspective on hearing care works so well for me and others I know and transcends traditional medical models.
This year around 350 people representing 40 countries attended, with about 290 oral and poster presentations. Special sessions addressed a range of global challenges, including Precision Diagnostics and Therapy Across the Lifespan, Empowering healthcare professionals in supporting older adults with comorbid hearing and cognitive impairment Listening effort and Ecological Momentary Assessment. De Wet Swanepoel and Carrie Niemen faced the challenges of bringing WHO guidance into practice with their session on Community-Delivered Hearing Care.
The poster sessions at HEAL are always interesting – increasing the range of diverse information and learning and promoting discussion – you need to walk past them to get anywhere and are helped with a glass of prosecco! For me, these are one of the most fascinating parts of HEAL.
HEAL provides a unique global opportunity for multiprofessional interaction – and this year was no exception – again unusually it was still busy on the last morning, in spite of Lake Como being bathed in tempting sunshine.
For me, Andrea Warner-Czyz, Associate Professor, from the University of Texas, Dallas, summed it up:
“HEAL welcomes an array of presenters across disciplines and levels of experience, with session grouping fostering ways to think about a topic from multiple perspectives. The broad international reach of the talks, though, affords a chance for attendees to understand the similarity and differences in services, outcomes, and research around the world, opening up new opportunities for global collaborations.”
Thanks to Prof Grandori and his team, and the enthusiastic delegates, let’s hope that some of those collaborations bear fruit! There’s plenty to do to promote this holistic approach to hearing care.
Photos:
Top: Andrea Warner-Cryz, and Sue Archbold by the CIICA stand
Middle: Lidia Best, EFHOH, and Mark Laureyns, AEA, with the posters.
Below: Sue Archbold and Ferdi Grandori share time for a conversation
