Audiologists hear from experts during three-day learning event

Nearly 30 hearing specialists have spent three days in Ballarat this week broadening their knowledge and skills in whole-person care, with a central emphasis that looking after people’s hearing is not just about their ears.

The 27 audiologists from Country Hearing Care (CHC) have been participating in the group’s Audiology in Practice – Cognition, Connection and Whole Person Care gathering at the Lake View Hotel.

It has been part of CHC’s annual company-wide get-together, which rotates around the group’s nine regional Victorian clinic locations including Ballarat and Bendigo.

The group also has a presence in places like Nuriootpa in South Australia’s Barossa Valley and Broken Hill in New South Wales, and makes fortnightly visits to smaller towns such as St Arnaud, Stawell and Heathcote.

Staff have learnt from contributors such as the City of Ballarat’s Community Connector Program, the National Acoustics Laboratory, Cochlear Pty Ltd, and even a remote hook-up with Auditory Rehabilitation Specialists in the United States.

According to the group’s clinical services manager Maddison Kennedy, a major presenter at the sessions was Campbell Stevens, who owned the Ballarat Hearing Clinic for over 25 years before its merger with Country Hearing Care in 2024.

Stevens is now director of audiology with the group.

“Every year we meet up for what we call an internal conference,” Kennedy said. “We come together, we have a theme, and this year it is connection, cognition and change.”

Kennedy said sessions had been delivered in person and online, with a focus on untreated hearing loss being the No. 1 modifiable risk factor in dementia.

She said CHC had partnered with Dementia Australia to deliver services in Bendigo, Mildura and Swan Hill.

Five members of the Ballarat team will participate in Dementia Australia’s Memory Walk and Jog at Lake Wendouree tomorrow (Saturday) to raise awareness of the condition and money for the support of those living with it.

“We really try and spread awareness of how important hearing loss is for your overall whole-person health including brain health and physical health,” Kennedy said of the group’s mission.

“The goal is to provide accessible and ethical care with a focus on the whole person, not just the ears.”