The Ida Institute´s new Advisory Board met for the first time last week. The meeting welcomed new members Melanie Ferguson, CEO of the Ear Foundation and Darcy Benson, owner of California Hearing Center and Audiology Services. In addition, the new board includes chairperson Louise Hickson and members De Wet Swanepoel, Deborah Ferrari, Christine Yoshinaga-Itano, Uwe Hermann and Lu Beck.
The full-day meeting included a round-up of Ida activities from the past year and new projects we are preparing to launch in 2017. It also was an opportunity for Advisory Board members to share insights based on their own experiences and research from the year, as well as giving updates regarding the healthcare systems in their respective countries.
Presentation at the meeting included research on implementing a standard of family-centered care in Australia, by Louise Hickson; the Ear Foundation’s Spend to Save report by Mel Gregory; and telehealth, including discussions of its disruptive properties by Uwe Hermann, Ida’s Telecare platform, and De Wet Swanepoel’s HearZA app, which now features our Why Improve My Hearing? tool. Finally, the board discussed ideas for new workshops and topics for the next call for research proposals.
We are always grateful for the insights provided by our board, and look forward to an exciting year ahead.