Audiere – Estonian Centre for Rehabilitation of Sensory Organs
(MTÜ EMERK Audiere,
Reg. nr. 80200262)

Inception

On 7 April 2004 in Tartu, on the initiative of Professor Mart Kull, the non-profit organisation ‘Audiere – Estonian Centre for Rehabilitation of Sensory Organs’ was founded to support the Tartu University Hospital’s Ear Clinic Foundation. One of the reasons for creating the association was a campaign in 2004 to help a 5-year old boy from Viljandi called Ott, conducted by Kroonika magazine. There were many children at that time waiting in a long virtual queue for their implant operation and, considering that it was all due to insufficient money, we decided that an additional initiative to find funds was essential.

From April 2004 onwards, the association has had the following members of the management board, who were also the active founding members of the association: Professor Mart Kull, Anne Maisvee, Sirle Karu, Elis Kuusk and Kristiina Kaljurand. In 2008 Professor Kull passed away and the four of us have continued his work. Kristiina Kaljurand continues to particiapte as a member of Audiere from June 2012.

We mourn the loss of Professor Mart Kull, a founding member of the Audiere non-profit organisation and its unforgettable leader.

Avo-Rein Tereping from Tallinn University and Sandra Vill from Tartu University Hospital Ear Clinic
were awarded the Audiology Scholarship for conducting a study of the hearing acuity of Estonian schoolchildren.

The aim of the study is to get an overview of hearing acuity and possible hearing loss among

Estonian schoolchildren. For this, an audiometric screening of Estonian schoolchildren will be

conducted. The target group are 9th grade students. The test group consist of 1000 school students.

Prior to the test, students will be given a 45-minute lecture on the causes of hearing loss and the

risks of hearing loss from listening to music with headphones and loud music in general. The lecture

will also go over general hearing hygiene. All test subjects will receive a non-personalised

(anonymous) written assessment of their hearing acuity as feedback. If the hearing loss is greater

than 30 dB, the parent will be notified.

The study will follow all requirements related to human studies. The personal data of the subject will

not be recorded. Only generalised and statistically processed data will be used for publication.

Descriptive statistical methods will be used to analyse the results of the screening test. The results

will be published in the journal Eesti Arst and in some international journals.

The study has been approved by the Ministry of Education and Research.

The study has been postponed due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On December 6 the Supervisory Board of the Aadu Luukas Foundation nominated the non-profit organisation Audiere to be one of the six nominees of the Missionary Prize of the Aadu Luukas Foundation in 2012.

This highly valued recognition is accompanied by a monetary award – 6,400 euros – that we have decided to allocate to the Audiology Scholarship Fund. Pursuant to the statutes of the Missionary Prize the award is given to a person or organisation that stands out as a promoter of the balanced development of Estonian society and our nation’s quality of life. By educating young agile audiologists we can fulfil this aim in a manner worthy of the award.

We are grateful to the honourable Supervisory Board for their trust and recognition, and we would like to thank all those who nominated us and all our partners and everyone who takes an active interest in our activities for their continuous support.