Who we are
‘Cognition in Hearing’ refers to cognitive processes that are involved in listening to and understanding sounds, including attention, memory, learning and decision making. The CH SIG is also interested in audiological support for people living with cognitive disorders, such as dementia and learning disabilities.
Our Aims
Promote high-quality research and evidence-based practice on topics relevant to Cognition in Hearing.
Disseminate news about research and information relevant to the work of CH SIG.
Develop BSA Online Learning modules on Cognition in Hearing topics e.g. modules aimed at clinicians.
Review existing priorities for research or consider future need for priority setting.
CH SIG Dementia Network
Grow the CH SIG Dementia Network and continue to provide support and guidance to audiologists and hearing healthcare professionals who work with people with dementia.
Steering Group Members
Helen Henshaw (Chair), Principal Research Fellow, University of Nottingham.
David Maidment, (Vice Chair & Research Liaison), Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Loughborough University
Laura Gaeta (Secretary), Assistant Professor, California State University.
Jenny Douglas (Communications Liaison), Lecturer/Audiologist, York Hospital; Lecturer, University of Leeds.
Rebecca Millman (International/Global Liaison), Senior Lecturer, The University of Manchester
Ann-Marie Dickinson (Conference Liaison), Principal Clinical Scientist/Clinical Lead, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
Rohani Omar (PGG liaison), Consultant in Audiovestibular Medicine and Honorary Associate Professor UCL, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Jenna Littlejohn, Research Fellow, The University of Manchester
Helen Flett (Online Learning Liaison), Senior Audiologist, The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Nasir Rashid, Clinical lead of the advanced rehabilitation service at UHB Trust, Birmingham
Current projects
The BSA Dementia Network
- Provide a forum for sharing ideas and experiences based on working with people with dementia.
- Create opportunities for networking with other healthcare practitioners and researchers.
- Develop training materials for healthcare professionals working with people with dementia.
- Build the evidence base needed to develop clinical guidance on best practice for working with people with dementia.
The BSA Dementia Network holds online meeting 3-4 times per year based on topics that are important to our members. The dates and times of the online meetings will be chosen to accommodate as many people as possible and we will record meetings for those who are unable to attend (videos of meetings will be made available to BSA members only).
You do not need to be a member of the Dementia Network or BSA to join our online meetings. Benefits of joining the Dementia Network include opportunities to network with other professionals with an interest in dementia, share resources and best practice and have a say in the content of future events.
If you would like to sign up to be part of the BSA Dementia Network, please use this link:
Identifying Research Priorities in Dementia and Hearing
Members of the CH SIG are involved in leading a JLA PSP in co-existing dementia and hearing conditions to enable people living with dementia and/or hearing conditions, their supporters, and clinicians to identify research priorities. These priorities could be about risk reduction, diagnosis, or treatment and management of these conditions. The PSP is also interested to hear about experiences of dementia in the Deaf community.
The James Lind Alliance (JLA) is a non-profit making initiative bringing patients, carers and clinicians together in JLA Priority Setting Partnerships (PSPs). The JLA PSPs identify and prioritise unanswered questions or evidence uncertainties that they agree are the most important, so that health research funders are aware of the issues that matter most to the people who need to use the research in their everyday lives.
This is the first JLA PSP to bring together two different health conditions. It is being undertaken in collaboration with Alzheimer’s Research UK and RNID.
To find out more and to get involved, please visit the PSP webpage: https://www.jla.nihr.ac.uk/priority-setting-partnerships/coexisting-dementia-and-hearing-conditions/
BSA guidance
Practice guidance for Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs)
The Cognition and Hearing, Adult Rehabilitation, and Auditory Processing Disorder Special Interest Groups are currently drafting practice guidance for Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) in Adults.
ALDs can refer to any device that can amplify sounds that an individual wants to hear. ALDs can be used with or without hearing aids/cochlear implants and include hearing loop (or induction) systems, wireless systems, and infrared systems, as well as personal amplifiers.
As part of this process, we would like to explore current service provision and variations in practice with regards to ALDs in the UK.
If you would be interested in helping to inform this aspect of our work, we would be very grateful if you could please complete our online survey that should take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete.
You can complete the online survey via https://loughboroughssehs.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8qNuUNxNkKBXdNs
If you have any questions about this work, please email Dr David Maidment (guidance lead), D.W.Maidment@lboro.ac.uk.
Resources
Other resources
Alzheimer’s Society
Sight and hearing loss are both more common as you get older. For a person with dementia, this can cause extra problems, such as confusion about what’s happening around them and problems with communication. This Alzheimer’s Society webpage explains the problems with telling the difference between signs of dementia and acquired hearing loss, and how to help someone who has both.
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/symptoms-and-diagnosis/sight-hearing-loss
Raising Dementia Awareness from a clinical perspective
A video created for Dementia Awareness week by the ARIG and CH SIG.
James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership on Coexisting Dementia and Hearing loss
This work aims to ensure future research studies, or treatments being developed, are designed to address the real problems such people face in their everyday lives.
https://www.jla.nihr.ac.uk/priority-setting-partnerships/coexisting-dementia-and-hearing-conditions/
PROTEA
Patient Reported OuTcomEs in Audiology: A toolkit to support selection of patient-reported outcome measures for audiology research and clinical practice (The PROTEA Toolkit). The toolkit provides a description of hearing-specific PROMs used widely in hearing healthcare and research and is available from the British Society of Audiology’s Sound Practice website. It is intended to support clinicians and researchers with the selection of measures to capture d/Deaf and hard of hearing adults’ perspectives of their hearing loss.
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