Terms of Reference (September 2023)

GOALS:

The goals of the HLL WG concern ear and hearing care professionals and the integration of their work into the emerging global integrated inter-professional primary care context.

1.     Consistent with the mission of the ISA, the primary goal of the HLL WG is to connect and engage professionals in ear and hearing care from across the globe to share, develop, and use evidence about hearing in later life to promote healthy ageing in healthcare practices and in social policy initiatives.

2.     A secondary, but very important goal of the HLL WG will be to encourage new inter-professional collaborative approaches to integrate ear and hearing care into the broader context of healthy aging. 

FOUNDATIONS:

This ISA Working Group will build on the concepts, guidance, and materials provided by World Health Organization initiatives concerning hearing and ageing and their intersection in rehabilitation. Note that these intersections will include the key capacities identified in the WHO ICOPE (see below), namely cognition, vision, mobility, mental health and nutrition. Foundational documents include the following:

Hearing

·     Click here for the World Report on Hearing 2021 

·     Click here for Hearing Screening: Considerations for Implementation 2021

·     Click here to download the Primary Ear and Hearing Care Training Manual 2023

Ageing

·     Click here for the World Report on Healthy Ageing 2015 

• Click here for The World report on ageing and health: a policy framework for healthy ageing

·     Click here to download the Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) 2019 

• Click here Redesigning care for older people to preserve physical and mental capacity: WHO guidelines on community-level interventions in integrated care 
  

·     Click here to read a Decade of Health Ageing 2021  

·     Click here to read Age-friendly World 1991        

Rehabilitation

·     Click here to read The World Rehabilitation Alliance 2023.

ACTIVITIES: 

Overview of Phases: 

The activities of the HLL WG will have five key phases:

1.     Start-up: orientation to the HLL topic and recruitment of members

2.     Priority setting: define workplan

3.     Implement workplan:

a.     Advancing HLL in hearing healthcare

b.     Increase international reach

c.     Increase interprofessional reach

4.     Dissemination and re-evaluation of workplan

5.     Establishment of permanent network for HLL initiatives 

Timeline: 

·     Phase 1: Orientation to the HLL topic and recruitment of members. Fall 2023-Spring 2024

·     Phase 2: Priority setting: define workplan: Summer 2024 – plan to be shared at WCA in Fall 2024

·     Phase 3: Implement workplan: Fall 2024 – Fall 2025

·     Phase 4: Dissemination and re-evaluation: 2026

·     Phase 5: Establishment of permanent network for HLL initiatives: WCA 2026 

Plan for Phase 1: 

Fall 2023: Three webinars (October 30, November 16, December 14) will be held to familiarize hearing healthcare professionals with HLL issues and opportunities. In October, the webinars will begin with a focus on hearing care and cognition and a presentation on the findings of the ACHIEVE study. The November webinar will provide an overview of ICOPE and initiatives to develop inter-professional education to enable audiologists to engage in emerging trends for integrated primary care teams. The December webinar will provide an overview of work being conducted for the Decade of Healthy Ageing. Webinars will be held at 7am Eastern time zone and be recorded for later viewing. A repository of reference materials will also be accumulated and posted with the recordings. 

Winter 2024: Three webinars (January, February, March) will be held to examine connections between hearing and changes in other age-related key capacities such as mobility, mental health and vision.

Spring 2024: Three webinars (April, May, June) will be held to showcase and discuss models of integrated person-centered care for older adults with hearing problems in various settings (screening in primary care, long-term care, community age-friendly initiatives). 

Summer 2024 (July/August): Online surveys and workshop will be used to identify priorities for the HLL WG workplan. 

September 2024: Present findings and plan at WCA in Paris.