Programs and Projects
Table of Contents
Mentorship Program
Find Connection
People who experience hearing loss often face emotional and practical challenges that affect their relationships, work, and daily activities. This can leave individuals feeling lonely, unsupported, and frustrated.
The Canadian Hard of Hearing Association (CHHA) online mentoring program was created to help change this experience. It’s designed to help individuals connect and learn new skills to manage their hearing loss in everyday life from people that have been in their shoes.
Our program is open to Canadians with hearing loss of all ages.
Connect With A Mentor
Ready to find support and guidance for managing your hearing loss?
Our online mentoring program offers personalized connections with experienced individuals who understand what you’re going through.
Whether you’re seeking practical advice or emotional support, our mentors are here to help you navigate life with hearing loss. Join our program today to connect with a mentor who can empower you on your journey.
Becoming a Mentor
Becoming a Mentee
Explore Group Mentoring
If you are a…
- person with hearing loss
- hearing loss advocate
- venue that’s interested in providing the best assistive listening experience
- hearing loop installer or AV tech
- person or foundation committed to developing hearing-inclusive communities
… you’ve come to the right place! We’re building hearing-friendly communities, and we invite you to join us.
Get in the Hearing Loop
Get in the Hearing Loop is a communication access program of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association (CHHA).
We dream of a world where people with hearing loss can thrive each day with communication access, full inclusion, and equal participation in all aspects of life, everywhere they go.
Through education, advocacy, and consultation services, the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association (CHHA) has launched its national campaign “Get in the Hearing Loop”, a national movement to promote communication access and support a barrier-free Canada, one loop at a time. We hope to change public spaces — and lives! — by sharing information about hearing loops.
A Hearing Loop, also known as an Induction or Audio Loop, provides a magnetic, wireless signal that is picked up by the hearing aid when it is set to T-Coil (Telecoil) setting. Since the signal is being delivered directly to the Hearing Aid or Cochlear Implant, the sound is customized to each individual’s hearing loss.
The loop system consists of a microphone to pick up the spoken word; an amplifier which process the signal which is then sent through the final piece; the induction loop, a wire placed around the perimeter of a room or sanctuary to act as an antenna that radiates the magnetic signal to the hearing aid or cochlear implant.
Telecoils provides people with hearing loss what wheelchair ramps provide with mobility challenges – access. They are an essential gateway to hearing aid compatible assistive listening for people with hearing aids and cochlear implants. Telecoils receive the magnetic sounds signals inside loops venues and also enable listening via infrared and FM systems signals with the use of a neck loop.
Most hearing aid models-80% – come either a telecoil or offer it as an option (all cochlear implants processors made today have them). When buying a hearing aid, consumers should always ask that a telecoil be included and that audiologists or dispensers activates the telecoil program at the time of fitting and also explain its use.
NOTE: Although one can access a telecoil via an assistive listening device (ALD), such as a neck loop, it is much easier if the T-Coil is installed in the hearing aid.
Induction loop systems (also known as hearing loops, or loop systems) use an electromagnetic (EM) field to transmit sound. Induction loop systems technically work with flux coils but are more commonly known as telecoils (or t-coils). This type of technology picks up modulated electromagnetic frequencies and converts them into sounds that are picked up by personal amplification devices, such as hearing aids, bone anchored hearing aids, or cochlear implant processors.
For most induction loop systems, a wire is taped to the floor or baseboards around the perimeter of the room, and acts as an antenna to transmit the audio signal through the EM field. One benefit of using an induction loop system with personal amplification devices (such as hearing aids or cochlear implants) that have a telecoil, is that no additional headphones or receivers are needed.
While induction loop systems require very little maintenance once set up, they can be susceptible to electrical interference. Therefore, it is important that this system is installed correctly to produce an adequate signal for a telecoil to pick up. Unlike proprietary systems such as Bluetooth systems, telecoils do not drain the batteries on a hearing aid or cochlear implant any faster than the microphone program, and telecoils work with all induction loop systems – regardless of the brand of the hearing aid/cochlear implant.
A hearing healthcare practitioner can provide information and support on telecoils and systems that will help with listening to the TV.
Induction loop system:
There are many emerging technologies that help people hear today. Click here for more information.
Get Involved
Hearing Health Alliance of Canada
The Hearing Health Alliance of Canada (HHAC) is an integral initiative that the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association is honoured to be a part of that is dedicated to advocating for the betterment of hearing health policies and practices across Canada. This program serves as a collaborative platform, bringing together experts, individuals with hearing challenges, healthcare professionals, and policymakers to address the critical issues surrounding hearing health.
HHAC’s mission is to elevate the conversation around hearing loss and related health concerns, ensuring they receive the attention and prioritization they deserve in public health discourse. The Alliance focuses on developing comprehensive strategies that promote early hearing loss detection, effective treatment solutions, and wider accessibility to hearing health services.
Key to our approach is the engagement with policymakers to influence and shape health policies that are inclusive and considerate of the needs of those with hearing challenges. Through research, advocacy, and public awareness campaigns, HHAC is committed to creating a society where hearing health is not an afterthought, but a fundamental aspect of overall well-being.
Key Activities:
- Collaborative Research and Policy Development
- Advocacy for Improved Hearing Health Services
- Public Awareness Campaigns and Education
- Stakeholder Engagement and Partnerships