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October is...
Audiology Awareness Month &
National Protect Your Hearing Month
Promote awareness nationally,
TAKE ACTION LOCALLY!October 2008 is the inaugural National Audiology Awareness Month and National Protect Your Hearing Month celebration.
Click here to view the Congressional Resolution submitted to Congress declaring October as National Audiology Awareness Month. A similar resolution (436) was submitted for National Protect Your Hearing Month.
View a letter from The White House in honor of National Audiology Awareness Month.
Your grassroots efforts to educate the public on audiology and hearing protection during this month can make a profound difference! Consider the following helpful tips:
Resources
The Academy has created the following press releases, fact sheets, posters, and e-advertising to help you in your promotion and celebration of this month.
Celebration Initiatives
Share in the celebration with audiolgists around the nation, and send in your stories/initiatives and *photos of how you celebrated this month. The three most creative stories/initiatives will win a framed Ear Art picture of their choice. Read president Patrick Feeney’s October AT Extra Column for more details.
*By your voluntary submission of photos, you agree to allow the Academy to publish those photos in Academy publications and marketing materials (electronically and in print). Photo release form required for photos with children younger than age 18. Photo release form available here.
General Tips
- Use the customizable press releases available to submit to local media.
- Parent magazines
- Radio shows
- TV news programs (specifically the health departments)
- Public broadcasting TV stations
- Newspapers (dailies, weeklies, monthlies…)
- Volunteer to be a guest speaker at your local community center, church, adult educational facility, and gym.
- For example, you could present information on selecting hearing aids or living with tinnitus to a senior group, or on NIHL and the danger of misusing personal music players to parent groups.
- Spread the word to local businesses.
- Hang posters and fact sheets on bulletin boards and in elevators in your office building, at your apartment complex, and your local library.
- Create awareness at your office.
- Place take-away information in the reception area.
- Organize an “Audiology Awareness Day,” and offer hearing screenings and information to your co-workers and their families.
- Display the e-advertising and Web graphics on your company Web site, on the signature of your e-mails, and on your host page on social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.
- Send out an e-mail to everyone in your address book, letting them know about Audiology Awareness Month and National Protect Your Hearing Month. Include the poster and some consumer-friendly fact sheets, then ask them to help spread the work by sending the information onto their friends and families.
- Create audiology crossword puzzles and wordfinds to take to children-centered businesses, such as a day care, youth softball leagues…)
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Private Practice Tips
- Get other health-care professionals in your area involved.
- Visit health-care professionals, such as physicians, dentists, and optometrists, in your area and take them a packet of information that includes promotional posters, consumer-friendly fact sheets, and your business card. Ask them to help celebrate the month by displaying the posters and placing the fact sheets in their waiting rooms.
- Create word finds and crossword puzzles to place in your waiting room for patients to do while waiting for an appointment.
- Spread the word to local businesses.
- Visit your local dry cleaner, restaurant, supermarket, gym, community center, and ask if you can hang promotional posters or leave consumer-friendly fact sheets and business cards for customers.
- Add announcements about National Audiology Awareness Month and National Protect Your Hearing Month onto your Web site and other local Internet community pages.
- Take it one step further, and list tips on hearing protection and why it is important to visit an audiologist.
- Place awareness buttons on your Web site.
- Post your practice’s contact information and encourage the public to schedule a hearing screening.
- Download the customizable press releases. List yourself and/or your practice as the contact for interviews and more information. Submit the press releases to local media.
- Parent magazines
- Radio shows
- TV News programs (specifically the health departments)
- Public broadcasting TV stations
- Newspapers (dailies, weeklies, monthlies…)
- Schedule an open house to promote audiology at your practice.
- Give out copies of the consumer-friendly fact sheets to patients at the end of each visit, and ask them to distribute among their friends and any social organizations.
- Exhibit at health and wellness fairs and offer hearing screenings and/or distribute awareness literature.
- Send out an e-mail to all of your patients, letting them know about Audiology Awareness month and National Protect Your Hearing month. Include the poster and some consumer-friendly fact sheets and ask them to help spread the work by sending the information onto their friends and families.
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Hospital and Clinic Tips
- Publish an article about hearing protection or audiology facts in the hospital newsletter, and on the Web site. Leave it up all month or frequently update as audiology fact of the week.
- Place awareness buttons on the hospital Web site.
- Place audiology and hearing protection materials in all the waiting rooms and lounges.
- Schedule an in-service program with other referring specialists to discuss the latest in audiology research.
- For example you could meet with oncology to talk about the latest research on ototoxic protectants.
- Post information on audiology and hearing protection on bulletin boards around the clinic and hospital.
- Work with the hospital administration to have a “Hearing Screening Day.”
- All staff and members of the community can come for one day, one week, or the whole month… for hearing screenings.
- Organize the event like a health fair for hearing.
- Promote the event to local media to get more coverage of your efforts in the community. Use customizable press releases.
- Post fact sheets and promotional posters in elevators.
- Talk to administration about getting hearing protection and audiology fact sheets printed to put in the table tents on all tables in the cafeteria.
- Volunteer to be a guest speaker to patients in all wards of the hospital.
- Talk about information pertaining to that ward.
- For example, you could talk with patients and staff on the maternity ward about the importance of newborn hearing screenings.
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Schools, Colleges, and Universities Tips
- Publish an article or audiology facts in your school’s newspaper, and on their Web site.
- Submit information to your college newspaper, high school newspaper, or parent newsletter.
- Place awareness buttons on Web site.
- Volunteer to be a guest speaker to present on the profession, hearing protection, and/or noise-induced hearing loss (i.e., from iPods).
- Coordinate with principal and counselors to have a general assembly at a high school
- Present at the Parent Teacher Association meetings
- Present to student organizations on campus (fraternaties/sororities, clubs, sports, student governments…)
- For grades K-12, work with schools to feature a daily audiology/hearing protection fact on the morning announcements.
- Schedule an open house during the month, where students, family members, and faculty can come to learn more about audiology and hearing protection.
- Publicize the open house to the whole community and open it up to more than just the school. Use customizable press releases.
- Download the consumer-friendly fact sheets to have available for students to take home.
- Provide hearing screenings for the students, parents, teachers, and family members.
- Ask to display the promotional posters in the school store, cafeteria, gym, dorms, and counseling center.
- Request a place next to the posters to leave copies of the consumer-friendly fact sheets for student’s to take.
- Create interactive games for students that teach them about audiology and hearing protection.
- Trivia games (possibly work with science teachers to have them as part of the curriculum during the month)
- Coloring competition for grade school students (color pictures of the different parts of the ear)
- Ask the student newspapers to feature audiology and hearing protection words in their daily crossword puzzles and/or word searches
- Contact the local media about everything you are doing to publicize your efforts within the community. Use customizable press releases.
- Work with your school board to get audiology awareness information placed into all the local schools nurses’ offices.
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Customizable Press Releases
Promote the month to the local press, download these press releases, and include your information as the expert to contact. Then send out via e-mail or fax to local media.
Hearing Loss Press Release
Noise Induced Hearing Loss Press Release Back to top
Consumer-Friendly Fact Sheets
The Academy has prepared these consumer-friendly fact sheets as tools for you to use. Simply download, print, and go.
What Is an Audiologist?
Hearing Loss
Hearing Loss and Infant Hearing Screening
Hearing Loss in Children
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
Questions on Hearing Acuity Back to top
Posters
The Academy has prepared these multi-sized posters to promote Audiology Awareness Month and National Protect Your Hearing Month. All posters are in PDF format. Simply open and “Save Copy.”
Click on above sizes to view posters.
(8.5x11 formatted to print on most desktop printers)
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E-Advertising
Choose from a variety of sizes. Display one or more of these ads on your Web site, in your e-newsletters, in an e-mail as a header or part of your address line, or on your MySpace/Facebook page.
Also Available in 468 x 80 static banner.
Audiology Awareness Month
National Protect Your Hearing Month To save, click on the link then right click on the image and “Save Image As…” to save the graphic to your desktop.
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