April 4 and 5 2025 saw the International Paediatric Audiology Congress and EURO-CIU 30th Anniversary celebrations in Istanbul. Ms Aylin Ozgur, President of the Cochlear Implant Association and Chair of the 15th EURO-CIU Symposium and Robert Mandara, President of EURO-CIU presented awards for leading professors and contributors to the field of cochlear implants. Robert also demonstrated his love of music by playing the piano for us. Sule Cekic, Professor of Audiology, and Chair of the International Paediatric Audiology Congress welcomed many speakers over the days of the congress on a range of topics.
Tobias Fischer accepted a lifetime award on behalf of Dr Monika Lehnhardt, wife of Professor Lehnhardt, who began EURO-CIU, with a video from Dr Lehnhardt. Later, Tobias, the first child in Germany to receive CI, was voted the new President of EURO-CIU taking over from Robert Mandara.
Leo De Raeve, Chair of CIICA and Scientific Advisor to EURO-CIU congratulates Tobias Fischer on becoming President.
CIICA stand was very popular with many visitors- and new members! Tobias and Deray visit the stand to look at the many advocacy resources available for you.
Sue Archbold led a group of young adults who talked about their experiences and the advice they would give to others. Tobias, Deray Derim, Melis Durmaz Yıldırım and Dominique Sturtz, with her daughter Mariella, gave great examples of the individual nature of each hearing journey and also the value of parents and families. Deray told us that our flaws do not matter!
Many of you were involved in the development of the Living Guidelines for CI for adults, ensuring that the user perspective was included. Now Version 3 of the Living Guidelines, has now been published and can be found in detail at https://app.magicapp.org/#/guideline/7872
The Chair of CIICA, Leo De Raeve, was Co Chair of the Task Force, and CIICA was closely involved in their development, with CI users commenting and influencing the content.
The aim of the project was to develop guidelines on good standards in the field of cochlear implantation for adults, so that each country can adapt these guidelines to its own needs in order to optimize cochlear implant care for adults. The Living Guidelines will be regularly updated according to new scientific knowledge and experiences and the new version is Version 3.
CIICA, represented by Sue Archbold, Brian Lamb and Darja Pajk, shared their advocacy activities at the 2024 HEAL conference hosted by Professor Grandori. CIICA had a stand where their resources were shared and presented on Global Health Networks, their report, CI Services Matter, and Young Adults with CI Matter – and met lots of colleagues and friends.
Professor Grandori at the CIICA stand and Darja and Sue inspect the poster!
World Hearing Day 2024, had as its theme Changing Mindsets – so many global activities!
Eddie Mukaaya (Uganda) of CIICA led a CIICA Parents Group Conversation – Changing Mindsets,
How do you do it? with Ekaterine Tortladze, LIubov Wolowik and Leona Pejcharova. Participants from 16 countries joins the inspiring conversation – how to change mindsets about deafness in children and about CI? What tools do you use? There were amazing examples of inspiring and innovative changes that had been made.
Groups had changed society views, government policies, educational practice, audiology and CI services – and shared their examples.
Its a big goal and it would be nothing without the energy of parent organisations. See the summary in CIICA Conversations.
FEDERATION AICE, SPAIN, IN ACTION FOR WORLD HEARING DAY
Introducing the HEAR·T Initiative: Hearing Empowerment, Advancement, and Robotics in Technology
March 2, 2024, for our first Virtual Congress: “HEAR·T Initiative: Pioneering the Future of Hearing Healthcare” World Hearing Day 2024.
Our mission is to pioneer a person-centered approach that integrates cutting-edge technology, innovation, and optimized audiological care to empower individuals to achieve their best hearing and fullest communication potential. For the past six months, Regina Presley, Au.D., FAAA, CCC/A; Michal Luntz, MD; Gil Kaminski, MBA; Eliana Cristofari, M.D. PdD, and I, Jodi Michelle Cutler have examined global hearing health care needs. Across our disciplines, we are excited to see how research and technology can provide innovative approaches to care.
THE FIRST VIRTUAL CONGRESS ON WORLD HEARING DAY WAS TRULY GLOBAL… THANK YOU ALL!
CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL CI DAY AND CIICA’S THIRD BIRTHDAY
United by a passion to hear…. this year’s message.
EURO-CIU began International CI Day in 2009 to commemorate the first CI on February 25, 1957 in France. Since 2009, this day has been celebrated all over the world, sponsored by EURO-CIU.
Throughout Europe there are more than 500,000 people who have received cochlear implants, 60% are adults and 40% are minors, at the time of implantation. Globally about one million people have received cochlear implants.
Young Adults with CI Matter – Hear their voices…
CIICA celebrated at the CI2024 Conference in Gran Canaria, Spain
CIICA is delighted to be a member of the World Hearing Forum and to be able to attend the second World Hearing Forum meeting and the Stakeholders meeting. A busy three days in Geneva at WHO but it was great to meet up with all the inspiring people from across the globe who are moving on advocacy for Ear and Hearing. We all said a huge thank you to the first Steering Committee who have done an amazing job, especially in the Pandemic, with so much achieved.
Ruth Warick, with Peter Thorne, and Sue Archbold, with Moses Sarwadda, lead the two new work streams for the new Steering Committee and we explored how we can take these ahead, over the next few years.
Sue Archbold, Leo De Raeve, Brian Lamb, Ruth Warick, Teresa Amat, and Paige Stringer from CIICA were there and it was good to be able to spread the work of CIICA and to learn from others. Brian Lamb is seen arguing for adult hearing screening at the Round Table discussion.
World Hearing Day is on 3 March each year, and in 2024 the theme will be Changing Mindsets: Let’s make Ear and Hearing Care a Reality for All. New resources will soon be available to share – and for planning your exciting activities.
Report from our Global consultation with adult CI users: CI SERVICES MATTER
We are delighted to share the report from our global survey of adults with CI. Download the full report here and download the Briefing here to share.
The First Global Survey of deaf and hard of hearing adults using cochlear Implants finds very high satisfaction rates and highlights the need for lifelong services to ensure lifelong communication
The first ever global survey of deaf and hard of hearing adults with cochlear implants (CI) reveals that 96% expressed overall satisfaction with their implants with the same number being satisfied with the services they received.
Profoundly deaf users found that the implants transformed their abilities to hear and communicate in everyday life. As one user commented: “Going back to listening is priceless – my life has been completely changed for the better”.
However, the survey also revealed that users often struggled to get appropriate support and rehabilitation after surgery as they learned to use their implant, with 27% receiving no rehabilitation support and 32% feeling they did not have enough support. As another respondent said; “It would have been nice to have some support. I had no rehabilitation – I taught myself everything.”
These CI users were reliant on their CI for everyday communication and required lifelong technical support for the external parts of the device: “ I need services so that my CI will work and be supported right up to the day I die”.
Ongoing funding was also a major issue: 54% had to pay for important accessories and 26% did not have access to replacement processors, essential for the functioning of the Implant. A further 36% had to pay for repairs themselves.
Ongoing funding for the lifelong services is required: “We wish the high prices for our CIs would come down, it is impossible to get new accessories, new processors, etc”
The lack of ongoing services placed restrictions on users benefiting fully from cochlear implantation and their leading independent and productive lives. Lack of continuing investment in CI services and support also undermines the potential savings to health and social care systems from cochlear implantation.
We need significant changes in the way CI services are provided by health systems to ensure that these deaf and hard of hearing adults can retain their independence and that health and social care systems save on the increased burdens that would otherwise result. These changes include:
Rehabilitation to be available from the beginning as part of the core provision of implant services.
Quick and ready access to technology support when required, including spare parts such as processors, cables and coils, regular processor upgrades.
Person-centred services, with access to appropriate peer group support and counselling services
Funding to ensure sustainability of services and access to CI services throughout life.
Chair of CIICA Leo De Raeve said; “This survey is crucial in giving us a picture of how cochlear Implants are valued by users and the profound difference they are making to their lives. CIs provide access to communication and society while saving health and social care services money. If we are to make the most of this amazing development in global hearing health, we need also to ensure that the 1 million users of CI are fully supported in the long term and it is not only those with deep pockets who can afford to have this life enhancing support”.
A CI user summed up the impact of her implants:
“No implant: no sound, no family life, no friends, no job (I am a nurse), no birds, no cat’s purr, no wind in my ears, no sound of waves, no children’s laughter…. Implants= life.”
Cochlear Implants and Deafness: A Global Case Study to increase policy awareness and action on an under-resourced health issue.
We are delighted to share with you that a study of the development of CIICA (Cochlear Implant International Community of Action) as an international health network has been published by the International Journal of Audiology (IJA) at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14992027.2023.2231634(Paywall). The paper places the development of CIICA in the context of other health networks and provides some lessons to be learned in how to establish health networks. It also reviews the research with users of CI and other stakeholders which led to CIICA’s establishment, develops some general learning about best practices in advocacy and provides evidence of the early impact of CIICA as a health network.
Many of you have taken part in either the research or our activities and we at CIICA are really grateful for your support, without which the establishment of this growing network in over 60 countries would not have taken place.
The IJA is an internationally respected journal and this will help spread the news of CIICA’s work and impact even more widely.
We would of course like you to promote the paper via the public (paywall) link. With many thanks again for all your support for CIICA, and we look forward to our future developments
Patient advocates in this field are the best conveyors of messages around the impact and severity of not addressing hearing loss and the benefits of taking action. From a public health perspective messaging about access to communication and the right to be able to hear resonates well within a human rights framework and offers an important basis for network development and building coalitions between groups with different circumstances.
Quality standards for Rehabilitation in Children with CI
Leo De Raeve was one of the leading authors of a recent published article on “Quality Standard for Rehabilitation of Young Deaf Children Receiving Cochlear Implants”.
It is one of the outcomes of the European KA202 Erasmus+ project ‘VOICE’, Ref. No.: 2020-1-RO01-KA202-080059. The article has been published recently in ‘Medicina’ as part of a Special Issue on ‘Current Trends in Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Pathology’ and is available online: Website: https://lnkd.in/djBSDVe4 PDF Version: https://lnkd.in/dVyJcxbD
You can also download the Quality Standards for rehabilitation of young deaf children receiving CI’s from the project website:https://lnkd.in/dBuri3qA . At this website you can also download a handbook for therapists, you can follow an e-training course on rehab and there is a lot of information available for parents.
It is essential that we think about the rehabilitation needs of young deaf children with CI. You can also download the CIICA resource about Deaf Children with CI. 01027_CIICA CHILDRENS BRIEFING_4PP
Less than 1 in 10 of those who are deaf and could benefit from a cochlear implant (CI) have access globally. CIICA was delighted that our Chair Leo De Raeve was Co-Chair of The Task Force and to provide the CI user and family voice to the Living Guidelines Project through our Conversations. The project has developed evidence based living practice guidelines that can be adapted and adopted in country, in order to optimise the lifelong care for adults eligible for CI. These guidelines have been painstakingly developed through a systematic review by a dedicated team of researchers, audiologists, clinicians, and cochlear implant users, bridging the gaps between cutting-edge science, real-world application, and the lived experiences of CI users.
It is hoped the Living Guidelines for adult cochlear implantation will help at addressing the needs of adults experiencing hearing loss and provide a comprehensive roadmap towards cochlear implantation. Download the full Recommendations here – PDF
Lee Schoushkoff, CEO of the Pindrop Foundation says, “As we continue championing hearing restoration advancements, the Living Guidelines for Adult Cochlear Implantation will be a vital resource in helping to address the crucial and significant unmet need in adults who are potential candidates for cochlear implants. We hope the Living Guidelines will pave the way for better knowledge dissemination, informed decision-making, and streamlined implantation procedures, ultimately promoting healthier, more fulfilling lives for adults experiencing hearing loss.”
Leo De Raeve, Chair of the Cochlear Implant International Community of Action (CIICA) and Co-Chair of The Task Force says, “The Living Guidelines are essential in advocacy work for cochlear implants in adults. They were developed through a systematic literature review and the involvement of users and families through CIICA. The Living Guidelines are essential to increase awareness, access, provision, outcomes, and lifelong aftercare and can be seen as a guide for advocacy to improve the experience and usefulness of cochlear implants for adults. I was delighted for CIICA to be involved in the project and look forward to using them globally to change CI services.”
