President’s Report

By Chris Allan

It’s spring!

What an exciting time after a long and dreary winter.

We are uplifted by thoughts of warmer weather and anticipate new life. I look forward to green grass, blooming daffodils, the return of robins, new leaves on trees bare for so many months, and (my favourite) baby bunnies enjoying a snack of clover in my backyard. I’ve had many people mention that they are already planning gardens, and I am looking forward to hanging clothes on the line outside.

On a professional level, spring is also the time to renew CAA membership and plan May is Speech and Hearing Month activities.

If you are a CAA member, do not forget to renew your membership. If you are not yet a member, consider joining CAA. Audiologists are the only voices in our organization, and CAA is influencing audiology practice and hearing health care across Canada.

Your CAA membership has so many benefits, including advocacy at various levels of government, quality educational programs, and standardized professional guidelines, to name a few (see all the benefits at https://canadianaudiology.ca/get-involved/become-a-member/benefits-of-membership/)

This May, as active members of the Hearing Health Alliance of Canada, we will be joining the team in a media campaign and meetings with representatives of the Federal government to take the next steps in the road to engage them in planning a National Hearing Health Strategy. CAA is coordinating an exhibit booth at the Canadian Paediatric Society’s annual national conference in Montreal on behalf of all the Canadian Infant Hearing Task Force members. The need to include Early Detection and Intervention and screening for cCMV (the leading non-genetic cause of hearing loss) across ALL regions of Canada will be the focus. Thanks to the leadership and many members of the CIHTF for participating in this important campaign! http://www.infanthearingcanada.ca/

From the end of April into May and June CAA there will also be unique opportunities for learning with new top-quality webinars on relevant topics. https://canadianaudiology.ca/webinars/ We are planning an exciting in-person conference in October and are on track to open early bird registration for a great program by the end of the month! Stay tuned…

https://canadianaudiology.ca/caa-conference-and-exhibition-2022/

CAA membership gives you access to public awareness and marketing support, including resources for May Month activities. This year CAA has added resources to promote hearing health and audiology. We have produced new posters that members can print and post to educate the public on hearing health awareness and guide them to Audiologists for help. Feel free to use other marketing materials on the website for your May hearing awareness campaign.