Hearing Care For All 2023
Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility, with its partners the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association, BC Chapter and Vancouver Branch, is holding a webinar to raise awareness about ear and hearing care. The webinar is part of events around the world being held in conjunction with World Hearing Day, which is celebrated annually by the World Health Organization on March 3rd
Join our webinar
Tuesday, March 7, 6pm-7:30pm PST
Featuring panelists:
- Christopher Sutton, Chief Executive Officer, Wavefront Centre
- Gael Hannan, Consumer Advocate and Vice-President, Canadian Hard of Hearing Association, BC Chapter
- Hugh McCormack, Director, Clinical Operations & Social Enterprise, Wavefront Centre
- Dr. Brenda Poon, Senior Research Fellow, Wavefront Centre
Moderator: Dr. Ruth Warick
- When: March 7, 2023 | 6:00 – 7:30 PM PST
- Where: Virtual via Zoom. Webinar will be recorded.
- Language and Accessibility: English, ASL, and CART/Captioning
Panelists Biography:
- Gael Hannan, Consumer Advocate and Vice-President, Canadian Hard of Hearing Association, BC Chapter, is a writer, actor and public speaker who grew up with a progressive hearing loss that is now severe-to-profound. She runs the Hearing Foundation of Canada’s award-winning Sound Sense hearing awareness program for elementary students across Canada. As a passionate advocate for people with hearing loss, her work includes speechreading instruction, hearing awareness workshops for youth and adults, and sensitivity training for corporations and community groups. Gael is a sought-after speaker for her humorous and insightful performances about hearing loss, including her signature shows Unheard Voices and EarRage! She has received several awards for her work, including the Consumer Advocacy Award from the Canadian Association of Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists.
- Christopher Sutton, CEO, Christopher Sutton, MBA, is the Chief Executive Officer at Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility. Christopher has over 20 years of cross- functional and progressive management and leadership experience, working with some of the largest organizations serving people with disabilities in the United States and Canada.Christopher’s career has spanned across the not-for-profit, public and start-up sectors where he has worked in various leadership capacities in business development, fundraising, government and stakeholder relations, marketing and communications, and sales. Christopher holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Gallaudet University, and a Masterof Business Administration from the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario, in addition to a number of professional certifications.
- Hugh McCormack, RAUD, is Director of Clinical Operations and Social Enterprise of Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility and has a master’s degree in Audiology from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. He has worked as a Clinical Audiologist with the National Health Service in Edinburgh, with the Auditory Implant Centre in Belfast and as the Clinical Territory Manager for Cochlear for Western Canada.
- Dr. Brenda Poon, is a Senior Research Fellow at the Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility and Assistant Professor with the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on community-level determinants of health and systemic inequities and barriers to accessing care. Brenda completed her Master’s degree at the University of Alberta and doctoral studies at the University of British Columbia, both with a focus on special needs and Deaf and Hard of Hearing studies. She also completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship through the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research focused on early hearing identification and intervention.
Moderator:
- Dr. Ruth Warick, is the Director of Programs and Services at Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility. Through her work, she has been involved in projects related to an accessible environment, access to technology, and transportation access. She oversees three Departments for Wavefront Centre: Community Outreach Services, Accessible Communication Services, and Community Research. She works to improve access and services for persons who are Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing. She is First Vice-President of the International Disability Alliance, which interfaces with the United Nations on implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She has been involved in leadership positions in IDA since 2006, promoting accessibility and inclusion for persons with all disabilities.
Register for the Wavefront Centre Webinar Today: Click Here
World Hearing Day 2023 will highlight
The importance of integrating ear and hearing care within primary care, as an essential component of universal health coverage. This integration is essential if countries are to achieve the global targets set forth in the World report on hearing.
With the theme “Ear and hearing care for all!”, we focus on ensuring access to ear and hearing care services to all who need it, as an essential health service.
Ear and hearing difficulties are among the most common health issues encountered in the community. Many of thedifficulties can be either addressed at the primary level of care or referred by primary health care providers for redress. Yet, all too often they go unaddressed because of lack of awareness, gaps in service and referrals, or an under-estimation of the negative consequences of hearing loss to one’s health and well-being.
