On Wednesday, September 13th our EOV Reporters, Joey Blacquiere and Joni Miner met Rose and Mike Barbour of Hear, Hear PEI. Shortly after meeting Rose and Mike EOV contacted them and asked for an interview.
"Our struggles can make us stronger and better, if we allow them to. The choice is ours." - Rose Barbour
1. What inspired and motivated you to create “Hear, Hear PEI”?
Mike has had hearing loss for most of his life. In January 2017, I insisted that he get hearing aids again, after not having them for a few years. Hearing aids are very expensive so it is a big financial sacrifice to get them, but he really needed them so he went to find out what they would cost. The quoted price was between $4,000-5,000 for two hearing aids. We reworked our budget to make it possible for him to get a pair so he set up an appointment and got them.
The high cost of hearing aids got us thinking about other people with hearing loss who, no matter how much they reworked their budgets, just wouldn’t have the money to get them so they go without.
It was sad to think that the only thing standing in the way of someone having good hearing and being able to participate fully in life (hearing loss can be very isolating for many) was the cost of hearing aids.
In that sense, hearing loss can be as much of a financial disability as a physical one since there is a solution for it but people can’t afford it.
We wanted to see if there was some way we could help so we started researching what was being done in other areas to help low-income individuals with hearing loss. This is where we learned about hearing aid recycling programs. We gathered as much information as possible and created our own PEI program that we call “Hear, Hear PEI.” Dalhousie University’s Audiology Department runs a hearing aid recycling program in partnership with the Lions Club. They were very helpful and answered all of our questions.
2. How long did it take you from the conception of the idea till you fitted someone with a hearing aid?
We started researching and developing the program in January. By March, we had fitted our first recipient with a pair of hearing aids. It was pretty amazing to meet the person; she was so grateful!
3. In the developing and running of “Hear, Hear PEI”, was there anything that surprised you?
Yes! We were pleasantly surprised at the support the program received right off the bat. We launched the Hear, Hear PEI blog to tell people about our idea for a hearing aid recycling program and how they could help us, and two days later, we were being interviewed on CBC Island Morning and a couple of days after that, we were on the front page of the Guardian. We were also invited to do an interview with a national radio program that had a regional office in Halifax.We were also surprised at the number of people who have unused hearing aids sitting in cupboard drawers because they didn’t want to throw them out.
4. You’ve had at least two radio interviews. What was the response to those interviews like?
The response to the local radio interview was amazing! That is how Steve Wong, who is a hearing instrument specialist with PEI Hearing Consultants, first heard about the program. He immediately contacted us to ask how he could help. That was big for us because we knew that the program would not get off the ground unless we could find someone to work with our clients to fit them with hearing aids and do the follow up care that is required. Not only was he willing to help with that, he was passionate about the program and motivated to make it successful. He became part of our planning committee. He’s been here since the beginning and we can’t say enough good things about him!
Annie Lee MacDonald who is the president of the PEI Chapter of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association also heard us on the radio. She sent an email to offer her assistance so we reached out to her. She joined our planning committee as well.
Many Islanders also heard the radio interview or read the article in The Guardian. This led to many people emailing or calling to make arrangements to drop hearing aids off to us. We had a steady stream of people coming to our door to donate hearing aids. They were so happy that their old hearing aids were going to help someone else to hear.
Murphy’s Pharmacies also came on board to help us. They have our posters and hearing aid donations boxes in all of their locations across PEI. This makes it more convenient for people to donate hearing aids.
Murphy’s Pharmacies also came on board to help us. They have our posters and hearing aid donations boxes in all of their locations across PEI. This makes it more convenient for people to donate hearing aids.
None of these great things would have happened without the media attention to our cause. It helped us to get the word out to a lot of people.
5. How many islanders have you currently helped outfit with hearing aids?
We’ve fitted 10 low-income Islanders with hearing aids so far.
6. You have very helpful and detailed instructions on your blog to make this process easier for islander’s applying. Do you have anyone on your team that can help folks with literacy problems fill out applications?
We certainly try to provide as much information as possible on the blog so people are clear about the criteria and how to apply. Our application is only available through PEI Hearing Consultants at the time of the hearing test so individuals could certainly let Steve or Katie at their clinic know that they need help filling in the application. They would pass that information along to us and we’d reach out to the person.
We would be more than happy to help anyone to fill in the application.
7. How has this experience changed your lives?
This experience has brought us in touch with many wonderful individuals that we would not have met otherwise from our planning committee members, Islanders who donated hearing aids, our hearing aid recipients and many more. It has also opened our eyes to the fact that any one of us can play a role in solving problems that can seem insurmountable on the surface. For instance, we knew that there were a lot of Islanders who had hearing loss but couldn’t afford hearing aids. We also knew that we could never personally afford to buy hearing aids for all of them. However, through the Hear, Hear PEI program, we are able to collect hearing aids across the Island that are no longer being used, and put them to good use in our program to help other Islanders to hear again. 8. Your lives were affected directly by the loss of hearing and the difficultly motivated you to do something to help others. Do you have any words of experience for readers who may also be struggling with a challenge? Prior to starting the Hear, Hear PEI program, I was an addictions advocate for five years. During that time, I reached out to many people across the Island and elsewhere who were either struggling with addiction themselves or, like Mike and me, they loved someone who was struggling with it. My message to them was to never give up. I think that applies to all struggles that we face. We have to find the strength to keep going. To do that, it is important to find a network of support among people who understand; people with lived experience, who get what you’re going through. For us, meeting other parents whose children were also struggling with addiction helped us through our darkest days. It also empowered us to speak out and advocate for better services for people struggling. We both came out of that challenge stronger people for having gone through it. Our struggles can make us stronger and better, if we allow them to. The choice is ours.
9. Visions tend to evolve and grow through time. What new goal/s do you see as possibilities for Hear, Hear PEI? Our ultimate goal for the Hear, Hear PEI program besides helping low-income Islanders to hear again, was to build a successful program and then find a non-profit group that would adopt it. This would professionalize it and ensure that it is sustainable well into the future. Mike and I both work full-time so had to limit the growth of the program so that it fits with our already busy lives. We know that Hear, Hear PEI has so much potential that a non-profit group could help it to reach. The program took off quickly and is now running smoothly so it was time to enter the next phase, which was to find a suitable non-profit to adopt it. We are currently working with one that is very interested in taking it on. If this happens, it will be wonderful for all involved.
10. How can our readers best assist you in your goal to bring hearing to Islanders?
If your readers have hearing aids to donate, they can take them to any Murphy’s Pharmacies location across the Island. If they know of anyone who has old hearing aids, they can tell them about the program and encourage them to donate their hearing aids. The number of people we can help depends on the number of hearing aids that we get donated so every hearing aid helps!
This experience has brought us in touch with many wonderful individuals that we would not have met otherwise from our planning committee members, Islanders who donated hearing aids, our hearing aid recipients and many more. It has also opened our eyes to the fact that any one of us can play a role in solving problems that can seem insurmountable on the surface. For instance, we knew that there were a lot of Islanders who had hearing loss but couldn’t afford hearing aids. We also knew that we could never personally afford to buy hearing aids for all of them. However, through the Hear, Hear PEI program, we are able to collect hearing aids across the Island that are no longer being used, and put them to good use in our program to help other Islanders to hear again. 8. Your lives were affected directly by the loss of hearing and the difficultly motivated you to do something to help others. Do you have any words of experience for readers who may also be struggling with a challenge? Prior to starting the Hear, Hear PEI program, I was an addictions advocate for five years. During that time, I reached out to many people across the Island and elsewhere who were either struggling with addiction themselves or, like Mike and me, they loved someone who was struggling with it. My message to them was to never give up. I think that applies to all struggles that we face. We have to find the strength to keep going. To do that, it is important to find a network of support among people who understand; people with lived experience, who get what you’re going through. For us, meeting other parents whose children were also struggling with addiction helped us through our darkest days. It also empowered us to speak out and advocate for better services for people struggling. We both came out of that challenge stronger people for having gone through it. Our struggles can make us stronger and better, if we allow them to. The choice is ours.
9. Visions tend to evolve and grow through time. What new goal/s do you see as possibilities for Hear, Hear PEI? Our ultimate goal for the Hear, Hear PEI program besides helping low-income Islanders to hear again, was to build a successful program and then find a non-profit group that would adopt it. This would professionalize it and ensure that it is sustainable well into the future. Mike and I both work full-time so had to limit the growth of the program so that it fits with our already busy lives. We know that Hear, Hear PEI has so much potential that a non-profit group could help it to reach. The program took off quickly and is now running smoothly so it was time to enter the next phase, which was to find a suitable non-profit to adopt it. We are currently working with one that is very interested in taking it on. If this happens, it will be wonderful for all involved.
10. How can our readers best assist you in your goal to bring hearing to Islanders?
If your readers have hearing aids to donate, they can take them to any Murphy’s Pharmacies location across the Island. If they know of anyone who has old hearing aids, they can tell them about the program and encourage them to donate their hearing aids. The number of people we can help depends on the number of hearing aids that we get donated so every hearing aid helps!
Murphy’s Pharmacies have hearing aid donations boxes in all of their locations across PEI.
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EOV would like to thank the Barbours for taking the time to share their story with our readers and to thank them most of all for creating a program that has already helped several islanders hear again!
EOV members (Left) Joey Blacquiere as Reporter, (Middle) Catherine Dickson as editor, and (Right) Joni Miner as Reporter.
