Credit: Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility

The Survey & The Report

Earlier this year, the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association (CHHA), University of British Columbia (UBC), and Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility worked together to collect information from Canadians who experience hearing loss and deafness about how the pandemic has impacted their daily lives.

They received insights from close to 700 responses who noted the demand for universal captioning, impacts of masks on communication, and the ability to receive accessible information from the government and media outlets on COVID-19.

The results from this report will provide a foundation to better understand the impact the pandemic has had on our communities and to ensure that moving forward, we can address these challenges as we continue to manage COVID-19 throughout the recovery phase and beyond.

Click here to read the full report.

Key Findings in The Report

• More than 80% of individuals with hearing loss found it difficult to understand others with face masks.
• 60% of individuals reported that their mental health has been negatively affected as a result of the pandemic.
• At least one-quarter of individuals with higher severity of hearing loss were unable to obtain hearing health services due to COVID-19 restrictions.
• Only 16% of respondents reported obtaining hearing or hearing aid services remotely from a specialist such as an audiologist or hearing instrument practitioner.
• Over 60% of respondents reported difficulty in understanding others who are behind plexiglass barriers.
• At least 60% of respondents indicated that having captioning available would help improve communication with others in video calls and at virtual events.

The Webinar

In May 2021, the research team hosted a webinar where the principal investigators, Dr. Brenda Poon, Wavefront Centre Senior Research Fellow and Assistant Professor at UBC, and Dr. Lorienne Jenstad, Associate Professor at UBC School of Audiology & Speech Sciences, presented the preliminary findings from their work.

Watch the recording of this webinar.

Credit: Government of Canada

The National Advisory Council will provide expert advice and a forum for consultation to the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the Minister for Women and Gender Equality on issues and challenges facing the ELCC sector in Canada. The Council on ELCC will be a forum for information sharing and discussion. Its members will bring a diverse range of perspectives and will provide expert advice to the Ministers on ELCC-related issues and challenges.

In carrying out its mandate, the Council will provide third-party expert advice to the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the Minister for Women and Gender Equality on topics including:

• The COVID-19 pandemic, reopening, and the recovery period as it relates to the ELCC sector
• Promoting information sharing across jurisdictions
• Developing standards of practice within the sector
• Establishing a Canada-wide ELCC system

Call for applications: become a member

Apply before September 28, 2021. They are looking for individuals with knowledge and experience in ELCC from a variety of fields.

Credit: Government of Canada

The Government of Canada pleased to announce the release of a new data blog titled “Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Canadian children with cognitive, behavioural, or emotional disabilities.”

Using data from Statistics Canada’s crowdsourcing questionnaire: Impacts of COVID-19 on Canadians: Parenting during the Pandemic, 2020, this data blog highlights the experiences of parents of children aged 0 to 14 years with cognitive, behavioural, or emotional disabilities during the early response to the COVID-19 pandemic (questionnaires completed between June 9 and 22, 2020).

The data blog includes a snapshot of parents’ concerns related to their children’s general physical health, general mental health, loneliness or isolation, screen time, physical activity, school year/academic success and their family’s ability to manage. Comparisons are made to the experiences of parents with children that do not have a disability.

Key Findings:

• Close to two-thirds of parents of children with cognitive, behavioural, or emotional disabilities expressed concerns about their children’s general mental health.
• Almost two-thirds of parents who have children with cognitive, behavioural, or emotional disabilities were concerned about their children’s loneliness or isolation.
• About 9 in 10 parents reported their children engaged in screen time on a daily basis; however, more parents (close to three-quarters) who have children with cognitive, behavioural, or emotional disabilities were concerned with the amount of screen time their children engaged in, compared to parents who have children with no disabilities.
• Half of parents with children who have cognitive, behavioural, or emotional disabilities reported their children engaged in physical activity daily and half reported they were very or extremely concerned about their children’s amount of physical activity.
• More than half of the parents (59%) reported they were very or extremely concerned about their children’s school year success, although school aged children with cognitive, behavioural, or emotional disabilities received more help to engage in learning activities related to school.
• More parents with children who have cognitive, behavioural, or emotional disabilities are concerned about their family’s ability to manage compared to parents who have children with no disabilities.

If you have feedback or questions, please contact phac.chronic.publications-chronique.aspc@canada.ca.