Hearing protection

Aims and Impacts

• To grow RNID's portfolio of biomedical research to improve, protect and restore hearing

  We increased our funding of biomedical research by 17%.
  We awarded new project grants to advance stem cell and gene therapy approaches to restoring hearing; discover more about the causes of hearing loss; improve diagnostic tools for hearing loss; and to understand better which children are more likely to benefit from cochlear implants and which from hearing aids.
  We made six smaller awards to support a mixture of pilot projects and workshops.
  We recruited a distinguished scientist Dr Sohaila Rastan as Chief Scientific Adviser to help raise the profile of our biomedical research.

• To launch a major new drug discovery initiative to reduce acquired hearing loss

  We have developed a new translational research initiative for hearing (TRIH) to accelerate research to protect and restore hearing. TRIH will move innovative early-stage research forward to a point where it can attract follow-on funding from the commercial sector. We plan to launch the initiative in 2011.

• To increase public and private investment in hearing research

  We launched a business report, highlighting the commercial opportunities for treatments targeting noise-induced hearing loss, at the 2009 BIO exhibition.
  We provided expert advice to over 80 companies showing interest in hearing research. This has led to new investment and collaboration between industry and academic researchers, and to a clinical trial of a potential drug for tinnitus.
  We worked with Fight for Sight and Elsevier to publish a special edition of Drug Discovery Today, highlighting research advances and encouraging investment in hearing and vision research.

• To extend our Don't Lose the Music campaign to reach a wider audience and raise music-lovers' awareness of hearing health

  Our Don't Lose the Music campaign was chosen as a charity partner for both DJ Magazine's Top 100 DJ Awards at the Ministry of Sound and the Music Producers' Guild Awards at Café de Paris.
  We held successful Don't Lose the Music pilots in five universities, delivering the campaign to a wider audience. We have since started to work with 12 student unions about spreading the message to their members.
  We attended five events with Access to Music, the largest provider of music education in the UK, to make sure their students are protecting their hearing.
  We set up a Don't Lose the Music @safedecks Twitter account, and have hundreds of followers so far.
  See our impact in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

• To introduce noise-limiting software for MP3 players

  After lobbying the EU for several years, in 2009 we saw a positive result: the European Commissioner for Consumer Affairs announced new regulations for personal music players, which will include a default noise limiter and clear warnings on the packaging.

• To encourage 2,000 pledges to change listening behaviour

  We received 1,065 face-to-face pledges and 1,186 online pledges to change behaviour as a result of our Don't Lose the Music campaign.

• To achieve significant national media coverage to highlight the damage loud music can cause to hearing

  We achieved significant national media coverage of our hearing protection messages in more than 140 articles, especially around hearing loss and MP3 players. We also achieved coverage in the music and health press highlighting case studies and encouraging people to take our Hearing Check and to protect their hearing.

• To design and improve products and solutions relating to hearing health

  We added new hearing protection products to our portfolio, and sold around 400.