MTÜ Eesti Meeleelundite
Rehabilitatsiooni Keskus AUDIERE
(MTÜ EMERK Audiere,
äriregistri kood 80200262)

2014

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Birgit is an active and very attractive young lady whose great love in life is horses and equestrian sport. At the moment she lives in the Netherlands, working at the same stables where she trains.

This October we visited the offices of Borenius attorneys with her, because it was partners from this very company who helped Birgit’s family a number of years ago in paying their share of the cost of an implant. In our very warm meeting with them, Jaanus Mody and Peeter Kutman said their decision to support Birgit had been made in the hope that the implant would help her go on and live a successful and fully independent life. It is a great pleasure for all of us to see that that is exactly what has happened! Well done, Birgit – we are all very proud of you!

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Third-year special education student wins Audiere scholarship for audiology studies in UK

Maris Kruusmaa, a special education student in her third year of studies at the University of Tartu, has been awarded an Audiere scholarship to study audiology at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. The scholarship, which was established on the initiative of the NGO Audiere and with the support of the Association of Estonian Ear, Nose and Throat Doctors and the Head and Neck Surgeons Society, supports the training of audiologists in Manchester.

Hearing science is not taught in Estonia and no specialists in the field have emerged in the last twenty years. However, the need for modern audiologists in the country is constantly increasing, because the number of patients suffering from early deafness is on the rise. Audiologists also deal with the care and rehabilitation of the deaf and patients with cochlear implants.

Maris Kruusmaa begins her studies in Manchester as the second Audiere scholar in autumn 2014. Master’s programmes in audiology at the University of Manchester are led by Dr Kai Uus.

One of the major contributors to the Audiere scholarship fund of 2014 is state operated Archimedes Foundation. Generous support from pharmaceutical company Linus Medical as well as other donations made to Audiere form the remainder of the amount. The scholarship was presented by the minister of social affairs Helmen Kütt at a special ceremony held on 25 April at the Mustpeade Maja in Tallinn.

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Audiere, confectionery manufacturer Laima from Latvia and Children's Fund organized a joint charity campaign that raised 10000 euros that will be used in order to pay for cochlear implantprocessors.

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.