Research shows Aboriginal older adults are three to five times more likely to develop dementia than the general Australian population.

Hearing loss is one of the preventative risk factors for dementia. Ear Science Institute Australia aim is to change the way hearing services are provided to Aboriginal Australians, making hearing health a priority, developing culturally appropriate treatments to support families and importantly to help maintain their cultural heritage and stories.

Dr Jayakody said, the telling and sharing of stories is universal to the human experience, it is a long-established practise in how we impart information about our culture, values, people, animals, jobs, food and the environment within our own community and to others.

“These stories are traditionally passed down from generation to generation through the act of storytelling. If hearing loss continues to go untreated within our Indigenous population, it will impact on memory and the ability to share stories about culture and values with younger generations.

“In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, stories of the past, present and the future are told and passed on to the next generation. The oral traditions of instruction include storytelling, song and dance. Hearing these stories from elders is equally as important as the telling of them,” Dr Jayakody said.

Professor Marcus Atlas, Founding Director, Ear Science Institute Australia said, our leading research into hearing loss goes far beyond hearing aids and implants.

“Our evidence based, peer reviewed research shows dementia, mental health, social isolation and frailty are closely linked to hearing loss. We need to tackle this issue at mid-life and with a different more informed strategy than we have seen in the past. Our research is far reaching from changing the way we age to impacting our national economy.“ Professor Atlas said.

Dr Jayakody was recently awarded the highly contested, inaugural Royal Perth Hospital Research Foundation Career Advancement Fellowship in recognition of her ground-breaking research which has shown that the severity of hearing loss is associated with severe cognitive decline. And that low to mid frequency hearing loss is associated with cognitive impairment, depression, anxiety and stress. Dr Jayakody’s research also identified central auditory processing assessments help to identify those at risk of dementia.

Dr Jayakody now aims to determine if hearing loss intervention can prevent, or delay, the onset of dementia and improve the psychological well-being of Aboriginal older adults. The team at Ear Science Institute Australia will continue to explore the issues underlying the association of dementia, and mental health issues with hearing loss and the challenges of ageing in mid-life before they develop into chronic health issues. These findings will provide life-changing solutions our community, government policy and patient-centred service delivery.

(Source: earscience.org.au)

By Emma Pollard ABC News

At a time of deep uncertainty, when seemingly endless news alerts warn of more COVID cases, lockdowns and hardship, Mikey Webb has become a familiar face across Australia.

The Auslan interpreter has fronted hundreds of press conferences with Queensland authorities since the coronavirus pandemic changed everyone's lives in 2020.

The eldest of two brothers from Adelaide, Mikey grew up with deaf parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles.
He described a happy childhood immersed in both sign language and English.
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"I'm very blessed to have had the life I had … Mum and Dad both being so prominent in the community, I've got such a big extended family of deaf community members," he said.

"Growing up with Auslan was just the way of life in my world."
His path to becoming an interpreter began when he went to a World Federation of the Deaf congress in Brisbane in 1999.
"And that was the first time that I went 'this interpreting thing is amazing'," Mikey said.

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Sporadic gigs at natural disaster media conferences followed, until the ongoing disaster of COVID-19 became "all encompassing".
Such visibility means he's recognised in public by both people who can hear and those who are deaf.

"People come up and you sort of get the sideways glance," Mikey said.

He's fine with the attention if it raises awareness about the need for information to be conveyed in Auslan.

"The hearing community are now starting to go, 'well hang on, there are access needs out there'," he said.  "If you're not there [at a media conference] they're asking 'why?', which I think is amazing.

"Because that's the most important thing — the deaf community are getting the access to information like everybody else."

Public affection for the interpreter with the "man bun" and vast array of suits deepened when vision emerged of him rocking out on stage as he danced and signed AC/DC lyrics.

It was part of his work with Auslan Stage Left, a group which provides interpreters so deaf people can have access to theatre and the arts.

"That stuff is amazing. I love doing that sort of stuff. It's who I am, I'm very flamboyant in that regard," he said.  "Watching deaf people come to a concert — something that they've never really had access to before — and going along with their families, their friends, their neighbours, their community and they're enjoying the spectacle that's being put on with everybody else, that's what gets me going."Mikey described Auslan as a "3D spatial language."
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"The facial expressions come in as tone and seriousness or joviality, whatever it might be, so there's that whole stuff going on," he said.

(Source: abc.net.au)