NEW RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT: PARENTS’ VOICES IN LMIC
Raising awareness of CI for children and infants in Low and Middle Income Countries
A new project: If you are a parent or legal guardian of a child with, or pursuing a cochlear implant (CI), in a Low and Middle Income Country, you may like to help!
Our recent series of CIICA Conversations focused on strengthening access to CIs and related CI services for Infants and Children in Low and Middle Income Countries. These discussions shed light on a critical need to raise awareness for the successes and challenges that families face on the CI pathway. Please visit www.ciicanet.org/events to read the meeting summaries.
To address this need, Tanya Saunders proposed the idea of publishing parents/legal guardians’ stories about their experiences so we could share them and look at the common issues which emerge.
The group that has been driving the Conversations will facilitate this effort by collecting stories, sharing them and reporting on the challenges and successes so that we can all learn from them. The stories will highlight challenges and successes in accessing and using CIs and corresponding services for their children as part of Ear and Hearing Care.
You can find the instructions for submitting a story HERE | Spanish version HERE
The required consent form available HERE | Spanish version HERE
These guidelines are summarized below so you can see what we are asking for:
- As you write or talk, please think about the following questions. You do not need to answer them directly, but they will help guide what you write, and other people will be interested to know.
- What was/is your biggest challenge?
- What has been or is your greatest support/help?
- What is your child’s greatest achievement to date?
- What advice would you give another parent?
- How did you make change happen?
- We are not worried about the grammar you use! We just want your story – so please write as you speak – or tell it to someone to write for you.
- 700 words is the maximum, with 2 images, if possible, which have consent.
- The stories must be in English* and will initially be on the CIICA website and shared in the CIICA network. They will be anonymous, but the country will be named.
- CIICA will write a report on the topics that arise in these stories from parents/legal guardians.
- Closing date for submission: 31 Jan 2026: Send to info@ciicanet.org
- With your name, relationship to child, email, country, current age of child, age at implantation, and signed consent form
PLEASE NOTE: CIICA reserves the right to review and edit all stories and select those that appear on the website and other CIICA communication tools.
*Stories and consent forms may be translated using Google Translate. Please have a native speaker review the translation before submission.
Do think about helping with this great project and please encourage others too and share the links!
We need your stories, in English please, before 31 Jan 2026.
It all begins with Awareness – without Awareness there is no Information, no Demand and no Access! Carolina Der, WHO
See videos from two young adults, advocating for services in LMIC:
Elaine Mukkaya, Uganda
Melis Durmaz Yıldırım, Turkey