Hearing Health in schools.
NFDHH are working hard to ensure hearing health is prioritised at every age and to raise awareness of safe listening practices.
Our secondary school hearing health programme focuses on identification of hearing issues through on-site hearing checks and the prevention of hearing loss through the delivery of our Make Listening Safe Education programme. This World Health Organisation (WHO) global programme aims to reduce hearing loss in young people by providing information to teenagers and their parents on how to listen to their devices safely and protect their hearing from harmful noise.
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Hearing Health Checks
Our Hearing Health Programme has expanded rapidly since launching in 2019. To date, we’ve checked the hearing of 11,000 Year 9 students throughout Aotearoa and visited over 45 schools plus provided valuable education on how to protect their precious ears from harmful noise.
In 2024, we aim to deliver this programme to 65 secondary schools throughout New Zealand. This is vital as globally 1 in 5 young people now have a disabling hearing loss and this is expected to double over the next 30 years if we do nothing.
In 2023, we found that over 37% of all students are listening to their personal devices at unsafe levels and 23% are experiencing ringing in the ears or otherwise known as Tinnitus. In the majority of cases, Tinnitus can lead to permanent hearing loss.
Even a mild hearing loss can have life-long impacts on education, social well-being and mental health. NFDHH’s Hearing Health Programme is the only programme in New Zealand focused on the prevention of noise-induced hearing loss in young people and providing on-site hearing checks at secondary schools.
That is why we are striving to reach more schools but need your support. As NFDHH does not receive government funding, we rely on the generosity of private donors and funders to enable us to continue to deliver our important programmes and services.
1 in 5 young people globally now have a disabling hearing loss.
This number is expected to double over the next 30 years if we do nothing.
Together, we can combat this devastating trend.
