National centre for Audiology

Description

The National Centre for Audiology NCA was founded through an Institutional Canada Foundation for Innovation CFI grant July 1999 supplemented with Ontario Innovation Trust OIT funding March 2000 and significant donations from the private sector with the vision of becoming a national centre of excellence and leadership in research in Audiology and hearing science The NCA received a second round of CFI funding in November 2006 to significantly upgrade the existing facilities and to create several new laboratories The Research Centre facilitates research excellence and innovation by bringing together the necessary human and laboratory resources to form collaborative groups with existing excellent researchers forming the core

Hearing loss is a significant problem in our society affecting more than 10 of the population of Canada and other developed countries The situation is particularly serious among the elderly for whom more than 50 suffer from a meaningful hearing loss The challenges faced by persons with hearing loss are substantial and well documented Failure to alleviate andor ameliorate the negative impact of hearing loss has serious consequences for older adults with hearing loss their families and considerable cost to government and society

This segment of the population is growing rapidly with the number of elderly in Canada expected to almost double to approximately 6 million in 2016

Children represent another vulnerable and important group among whom 8 to 10 are affected or at risk Early identification and effective intervention of peripheral hearing loss through programs such as the Ontario Ministry of Health Infant Hearing Program currently located in the HA Leeper Speech and Hearing Clinic is critical to favourable outcomes Failure to treat hearing loss in children has significant social educational and economic consequences for individuals and families and considerable cost to government and society Hearing problems can occur at any level of the auditory system and central auditory processing disorders have been implicated in a substantial proportion of children who fail to acquire adequate language and reading skills Because spoken language is the normal mechanism for instruction in the classroom and for daily communication among humans these failures have significant consequences for school performance and social interactions

Fortunately for many persons with the various types of hearing losses our knowledge of effective rehabilitation strategies continues to grow Recent advances in assistive technologies and in our understanding of hearing its disorders and its impact on the individual and society hold the promise that Canada can provide effective hearing health care to our population Meeting this challenge will require the creation and organization of new knowledge about hearing and hearing disorders using an interdisciplinary and holistic approach and the application of this knowledge to produce effective new clinical products and clinical protocols

The Centre is designed to help Canada address these issues The primary objectives of NCA are

to advance research for improved assessment and treatment of persons with hearing loss

to understand the underlying basis of hearing disorders and to help prevent hearing loss

to provide stateofthediscipline clinical hearing health care services consultation with government agencies professional and consumer associations and other agencies and

to improve hearing health care services and public education about hearing and hearing loss dissemination of knowledge about hearing loss its prevention and treatment to educators physicians and other professionals and directly to the public

The National Centre for Audiology today provides an interdisciplinary environment within which to expand knowledge of hearing function and hearing problems the needs of people with hearing impairment and behavioural and technological methods to assist persons with hearing loss