Newsletter 2019.pdfAnderson are some of the people who attended “Let’s Talk About Tinnitus” Joe McKee comes into the office regularly to help. Joe has been kept very busy shredding

Better Hearing Australia Brisbane Inc. Email: [email protected]

PO Box 5334, West End Qld 4101 Phone (Voice & TTY): 07 3844 5065 ABN No. 63 635 006 315

www.bhabrisbane.org.au

Let’s Hear It! Newsletter

May 2019

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Dear Members,

It’s hard to believe that half the year has nearly slipped away and Better Hearing Australia Brisbane continues to evolve in order to support members of the community with hearing loss as well as their family and friends. Support from family, friends and work colleagues is vital to how we manage our hearing loss and achieve all we wish to achieve without discrimination.

Better Hearing Australia Brisbane has been fortunate to receive confirmation that Qld Health funding will continue for a further three years enabling us to continue providing quality services and support to the hard of hearing community. In order to ensure we continue to meet consumer need, BHA is working with consulting firm Nous Group to assess opportunities and refocus the organisation on the changing needs of people with hearing loss and explore new ideas for supports and services into the future.

Our ongoing services include:

Information, referral and advocacy support

Speech reading classes: Tuesday evenings at 7pm

Active Communication Education (ACE) Program: New program commencing 29th May 2019

In the Loop: Portable Loop Hire & Assistive Listening Devices for sale.

Hearing Access Program: Joint initiative between BHA, Brisbane and Clarity Hearing + Balance, providing low cost hearing aid access for people in need. If anyone has hearing aids they no longer require anymore please let us know. All donations are welcome.

Hearing Loss Support Groups: Currently held in Brisbane North, Logan and Redlands. All groups provide support, social connection and helpful information such as recently held ‘Fire Safety in the Home’ and ‘Personal Safety’. My thanks go to the respective speakers from QLD Fire and Emergency Services and the QLD Police Service who support our program and at the same time learn about the needs of people with hearing loss.

A “Tea for Tinnitus” Morning Tea will also be held in the last week of June with full details to follow very soon. If anyone wishes to host a Tea for Tinnitus morning tea (either at work or a social group, etc) please let us know, and we will be able to help.

To all Staff, Board members and Volunteers, my thanks as always for your continued hard work and dedication to BHA Brisbane and supporting people with hearing loss.

Carol-Anne Greensill

mailto:[email protected]




2

Better Hearing Australia Brisbane Pam O’Gorman Bursary 2019

Congratulations to the

2019 Pam O’Gorman Bursary winner Katrina Sullivan.

L-R Katrina Sullivan accepting the Pam O’Gorman Bursary Award from Better Hearing Australia Brisbane Board President Carol-Anne Greensill.

Pam O’Gorman dedicated more than 10 years to helping hearing impaired people. She had many accolades as a music teacher but her hearing loss made it difficult to continue. She turned to hearing loss management. She was an inspiration to all who attended her classes and showed that hearing loss, properly managed, should allow people to pursue their goals. She was a board member of Better Hearing Australia Brisbane Inc for 6 years and served as a co-ordinator of teachers. She was much loved and this bursary is our recognition of her contribution to our goals. She would be delighted to know that this bursary has been named in her honour to help a student to further studies.





3

Are You Looking for a Presenter? Better Hearing Australia

Presenters are available to talk to your Community or Service Groups about

Hearing Loss and how Hearing Loss impacts on the Hearing Impaired Person, Family and Friends.

Please Contact Better Hearing Australia for a Community Presentation Request Form

to make a booking.

Phone 3844 5065 or Email [email protected]

I would like to introduce Tania Hagelberg. Tania is one of Better Hearing Australia Brisbane’s Very Valuable Volunteers.

Tania is a board member on the Better Hearing Australia Brisbane Board and is on the Better Hearing Australia Brisbane Quality Management Committee.

Tania enjoys doing community presentations for Better Hearing Australia to groups about hearing loss and its impact on the hearing impaired person, family and friends. Tania is hearing impaired herself so fully understands how this affects people in everyday life. Tania has a Cochlear Implant and has a hearing aid.

Tania is a valuable member of the B.H.A. Logan Hearing Impaired Support Group and enjoys her time volunteering at Better Hearing Australia Brisbane.

Tania has found talking to Better Hearing Australia members about their experiences on receiving Cochlear Implants has helped her make an informed decision on her receiving her Cochlear Implant. Tania has worked in education and training, and also worked supporting students with disabilities and doing vocational training.

Tania enjoys music, painting, helping John with the family business and travelling in her spare time.

Thank you Tania for being a Very Valued Volunteer.

If you would like Tania to talk to your community group about hearing loss please contact Better Hearing Australia Brisbane on Phone 3844 5065 or email [email protected]





4

Brisbane North

Hearing Loss Support Group

Meetings are held at the

North Lakes Community Centre,

10 The Corso, North Lakes.

Meetings are held on Saturdays

1.00 to 4.00 p m

For the

meeting dates and information

please contact B.H.A. on Ph. 3844 5065

or email [email protected]

Visitors are Welcome

Logan Hearing Impaired Support Group

Meetings are held on the first

Saturday of the month at the

Logan North Library,

Sports Drive, Underwood

9.00 am for 9.30 am start.

For further information please contact

Peter Massey on email

[email protected] or Better Hearing

Australia Ph. 3844 5065 or Email:

[email protected]

Visitors are Welcome Redlands Hearing Impaired

Support Group

Meetings are held on the

2nd

Saturday of the month

10.00 am to 12.00 noon

at the Donald Simpson Centre,

Cleveland.

Members $6.00 each, Non-Members

$10.00 each and includes morning tea.

For further information please contact

Paul on 0414 823 543 or

email [email protected]

http://theda78.wix.com/rhisg-

logo#!whats-on/ce3d

How can I meet new people?

Join a Support Group.

How can I make new friends? Come along to a Support Group.

I feel like I am the only one with hearing loss. You are not alone. Come along to a Support

Group and meet others that also have a hearing loss.

Will I learn from others who have hearing loss? You learn different ways that others use to cope in

their everyday life.

Will they understand that I might not hear everything?

Yes, they will understand. We cannot hear everything as well.

Can I bring a significant other along? Yes.

Family and friends are welcome to come along. and join us.

CICADA Queensland

(Cochlear Implant & Advisory Association

Queensland)

Meet Ups are held at the Sunshine Coast,

Brisbane Northside

and Brisbane Southside.

For more information on meetings and social

events please refer to the website

www.cicadaqld.com.au

Email: [email protected]

Queensland Acoustic Neuroma Association

QANA

Bi-monthly Meetings are held at St. James’ Church Meeting Room,

92 Kirkland Avenue, Coorparoo

11.30 am – Please bring a plate to share

For more information please contact Gavin Ricketts on Ph. 0405 103 729

or email: [email protected] Website: www.qana.asn.au






http://www.cicadaqld.com.au/





5

Hearing Awareness Week

Audiologist Rachel Gibson from All Ears in Hearing did a presentation at Better Hearing Australia Brisbane.

Rachel’s presentation was on Tinnitus and Tinnitus Management. Rachel’s presentation was very informative and everyone learnt different ways to cope with

tinnitus and everyone had the opportunity to ask lots of questions. The majority of the people who attended the presentation suffer from Tinnitus.

A morning tea followed giving all the opportunity to catch up.

“Let’s Talk About Tinnitus”

Joe McKee comes into the office regularly to help. Joe has been kept very busy shredding old paperwork. Thank you Joe.

L-R Tania Hagelberg, Carlie Armitage, Aubany Edwards, Rachel Gibson, Brian Anderson & Gail Anderson are some of the people who attended the Let’s Talk About Tinnitus Presentation.





6

What should I do when I experience that my hearing has become worse?

Source: https:/www.hear-it.org

A hearing health care professional is the right person to help you, if you think that your hearing has become worse.

Adjustment

It could be that your hearing aids just need to be adjusted. Like our vision, our hearing changes gradually over time (and normally gets worse). In general, the fact is that the older we get, the more we will experience hearing problems. For most people, their hearing deteriorates as they get older (age-related hearing loss).

More power

In some cases, your level of hearing may have fallen so much that your present hearing aids no longer help you as much as they should. In this case, you have to look at more powerful models.

New Hearing Aids?

If your hearing aids are old, they may have to be replaced. Like all other things, hearing aids don’t last forever. You’re hearing health care professional can tell you if your hearing aids are so old that they need to be replaced.

In any of the above cases, a hearing health care professional is the right person to help you.

Group Fire Department Education Officer Darryl Clem from Fire and Rescue did a presentation to the Brisbane North Hearing Loss Support Group at their May meeting.

L-R Darryl Clem and Carol-Anne Greensill.

A DVD on fire safety was shown to the group with information on what to do in case of a fire, how quickly a fire can spread in the home, smoke, visibility, intensity of the fire, fire extinguishers for the home, smoke alarms etc.

Thank you Darryl for a very important and informative presentation to the Group.

BRISBANE NORTH HEARING LOSS SUPPORT GROUP MEETING NEWS





7

June 2019

8 Queensland Acoustic Neuroma Association (QANA) Meetings is held at

St. James’ Church Meeting Room, 92 Kirkland Avenue Coorparoo. 11.30 am. Please bring a plate. For further information contact Gavin Ricketts Ph. 0405 103 729 Email: [email protected] Website: www.qana.asn.au

8 Redlands Hearing Impaired Support Group Meeting 10.00 is at the Donald Simpson Centre, 172 Bloomfield Street, Cleveland. DSC Members $6.00 each, Non-members $9.00 plus $1.00-includes tea and coffee. Visitors Welcome. For further information contact Paul on 0414 823 543 or email [email protected] refer http://theda78.wix.com/rhisg-logo#!whats-on/ce3d

11 Speech Reading/Communication Class. 7.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. at 21 Vulture Street, West End. For further information please contact Better Hearing Australia on 3844 5065 or email [email protected]

12 Active Communication Education Program (ACE) 10.00 am to 12.00 noon at Better Hearing Australia, 21 Vulture Street, West End. For information, flyer and booking a place in the ACE program please email [email protected] or phone 3844 5065.



22 Brisbane North Hearing Loss Support Group Meeting 1.00 p m to 4.00 p m at North Lakes Community Centre, Level 2, Meeting Room 1 at 10 The Corso, North Lakes. Family and Friends are Welcome. Light refreshments will be available. For more information please contact Better Hearing Australia on Phone 3844 5065 or email [email protected]

25 Better Hearing Australia Brisbane Board Meeting 4.30 – 6.30 p m at 21 Vulture Street, West End. Members are welcome to attend from 4.30 – 5.30 p m. If you would like to attend the Board Meeting please contact the office on Email [email protected] or Phone 3844 5065.


25 CICADA Queensland Sunshine Coast Meet Up 10.00 a m at Sunshine Castle Café, 292-296 David Low Way, Bli Bli. For information contact Penny on [email protected] or SMS only 0421 328 909 Printed with permission from CICADA Queensland.




http://theda78.wix.com/rhisg-logo#!whats-on/ce3d












8

Loudness Discomfort This article is from Hear-It.Org - Source: www.hear-it.org/loudness-discomfort

Most people do not like loud noise. But people with loudness discomfort have particularly sensitive ears and cannot tolerate ordinary levels of noise.

Hyper sensitive hearing is most commonly associated with hearing loss. Many of us have experienced how old people ask you to speak up a bit and then after a short while, they will say something like “don’t shout! I’m not deaf.”

Loudness discomfort is typically a problem for people who suffer from sensorineural hearing loss, whereas it is not a problem for people who suffer from conductive hearing loss.

As you grow older, the number of hair cells and nerve fibres that are responsible for picking up sounds in the inner ear is reduced. The ability to grade different intensities of sound is also impaired. To compensate for this, you will often “switch on” all remaining nerve fibres to produce almost maximum loudness. As a result, even quite moderate sounds may seem to be unbearable loud.

The dynamic range is narrowed or reduced in the ears: If sounds are heard at all, they are heard as very loud noises.

When a person suffers from hearing loss and needs to use hearing aids, Tania Hagelberg hearing aids should not overload the ear with amplified sound. Many hearing aids have “peak clipping”. Another more sophisticated form of compression is known as automatic volume control.

Recent research has shown that in many cases the use of white noise applied to the ear by a white noise generator masker can help. This is particularly true for those people with normal or almost normal hearing.

A Sign on a Doctor’s Door

“I will be away for three weeks, in the meantime eat an apple.”

What do I do with unwanted Hearing Aids? Better Hearing Australia Brisbane collect Hearing

Aids for their Hearing Access Program.

Ph. 3844 5065 or Email: [email protected] for information.

Better Hearing Australia Brisbane Membership

It is that time of the year when your membership

is due for renewal.

Membership is from the 1st July 2019 to 30th June 2020

Please find on the attachment a new Membership Form.


http://www.hear-it.org/loudness-discomfort





9

Better Hearing Australia Brisbane and Queensland-owned audiologists Clarity Hearing

Solutions have partnered to trial the BHA Hearing Access Program (HAP).

The BHA HAP was developed to give those people with hearing loss that may fall through

the cracks left by other programs, including the NDIS, the ability to access low cost

quality hearing solutions.

While both organisations commend the Federal Government’s NDIS program for

attempting to assist as many Australians with hearing disorders as possible, we

recognise that the NDIA has set a comparably high hearing loss level to be considered

eligible for access to the scheme. For the NDIS the loss level has been set at 65dB in the

better ear. For other Government programs, like the Hearing Services Program for

pensioners, the limit is set at 25dB loss in the better ear.

The BHA HAP also recognises other hearing aid bank programs that offer their services

free to the patient but recognise the strict eligibility requirements and application

processes required for these programs as well as the limitation of services based on

donations required to fund the actual services.

By establishing this partnership BHA and Clarity hope to bring hearing back to many of

those people who may not have been able to afford hearing aids in the past. The BHA

HAP will fit monaural or binaural refurbished hearing aids as required.

Eligibility criteria are set as simple as possible with the only requirements being a

demonstrated clinical need and holding a Health Care Card. We believe the program sets

an industry benchmark here with the focus being on clinical need rather than a minimum

hearing loss threshold.

Clarity’s extensive reach with clinics throughout Queensland means that people can

access this program throughout most of Queensland. Program recipients will also have

access to a full range of hearing loss management support to ensure they get the most

out of their hearing aid(s).

Talk to us now if you think you or someone you know might be eligible.

Don’t forget to donate your unwanted hearing aids to Better Hearing Australia and we will make sure they have a new lease of life.


Documents

Newsletter 2019.pdfAnderson are some of the people who attended “Let’s Talk About Tinnitus” Joe McKee comes into the office regularly to help. Joe has been kept very busy shredding