Concerns are being raised about the need for hearing screening equipment in the Battlefords schools.
A screening program in place at Living Sky School Division since 2008 had relied on hearing screening equipment to test children's hearing, with the equipment operated by speech-language pathologists in the community.
Last November the hearing screening equipment -a tympanometer - broke down and hasn't been replaced. Those advocating for solutions to the situation want to see the issue addressed.
"It's critical for us to have hearing screening equipment to identify kids who have hearing problems," said Sherry Bockus, registered speech-language pathologist in the Battlefords.
What they are seeking is the funding of hearing screening equipment to be used to identify children with potentially educationally significant hearing loss.
Bockus noted hearing impairment can adversely affect academic and communications development.
"A child with a minimal hearing loss, which is fluid in their ear, either one ear or both ears, loses a third of an academic year in a year."
She called it the primary cause of speech and language delay and academic delay. Bockus said the impact of "screening kids hearing and addressing it when they're little guys is enormous."
There are two types of hearing screenings that are recommended, said Bockus. One is otoacoustic emissions to evaluate the acoustic nerve, while the other is tympanometry, which evaluates the health of the ear canal and the middle ear. The latter is particularly important in evaluating issues surrounding wax or fluid in the ear canal that can lead to hearing loss.
Bockus said she met with MLA Herb Cox over the summer and outlined the need for screening of children in the schools. She said Cox seemed to appreciate the concerns, and Bockus had approached Randy Fox of Living Sky School Division as well.
She has also approached Innovation Credit Union seeking charitable funding to buy screening equipment, but that is in the early stages.
A quote from Interacoustics Canada for the equipment being sought - an audiometer and a middle ear analyzer - comes to $10,815, not including shipping or taxes.
The screening equipment situation is just one of several concerns being raised. One concern is a lack of audiological services in the area. Bockus said there used to be a full-time audiologist in the Battlefords, who provided services to all ages.
Over the past 10 years those services slowly have drifted away, she said, to the point where now the Saskatchewan Hearing Aid Plan comes up for a couple of days per month at the Primary Care Health Centre.
There was also a full-time support person at one point and people used to be able to make appointments locally, but now people must call Saskatoon to make those arrangements.
"That full time position has now just disappeared from the Battlefords completely," said Bockus.
According to Prairie North Health Region, audiology services are provided by the Saskatchewan Hearing Aid Plan and Saskatoon Health Region. The Hearing Aid Plan is a provincial program provided to PHHR through SHR.
The current audiology service is available in North Battleford as a part-time clinic three days per month, when two SHR staff travel to North Battleford to provide the service. Appointments are made by contacting the Saskatoon office.
The full-time position that served North Battleford has been vacant for quite some time, because of difficulty in recruiting, according to PNHR.
Prairie North is expecting full-time audiology services from SHR are to resume in North Battleford by the start of the New Year. SHR has recruited a full-time audiologist and full-time audiology services will be reinstated in North Battleford in the near future and the region will once again be taking appointments locally.
The Living Sky School Division targeted affiliated pre-school programs, children in kindergarten to Grade 3 and any other student at risk or with suspected hearing loss, dependent on staffing and equipment availability.
"We do need an audiologist in the Battlefords," said Bockus. She added there is a need for support by both health and education for a universal hearing screening program or service for children to have their hearing screened.
But the prime concern is the need for equipment that can be operated by speech pathologists in the schools without an audiologist having to be present.
A big factor cited by Bockus is the need to educate and inform people about the issue and of the benefits that will ensue for children if hearing issues are caught early.
Some children have had tubes inserted in their ears to address chronic fluid buildup, while others were put on antibiotics or had even more serious health issues addressed as a result of screenings, often preventing more serious hearing and communication problems down the road.
