Second European Phoniatric EUHA Hearing Award presented in Bilbao

(EUHA/Mainz, 10 October 2016) As part of the 28th Congress of the Union of the European Phoniatricians (UEP), the second European Phoniatric EUHA Hearing Award was presented on 1 October 2016. The European Union of Hearing Aid Acousticians (EUHA) wishes to make a statement with a view to extraordinary research work, thus strengthening the good cooperation with the Union of the European Phoniatricians (UEP). This partnership is aimed at learning from one another and sharing knowledge on the partner’s achievements and the options feasible as part of patient-oriented care based on the idea that hearing aid acousticians and phoniatricians should each have their share in patient management. Special emphasis is placed on paediatric audiology, diagnostics, prophylaxis, and rehabilitation.

Phoniatrics is a distinct medical specialty dealing with voice, speech, language, and swallowing disorders. The UEP is an association of physicians specialising in phoniatrics and auditory training. UEP members engage in an exchange of expert knowledge, clinical experience, and scientific findings on these topics.

The European Union of Hearing Aid Acousticians (EUHA) has campaigned for certified further education and advanced vocational training for hearing aid acousticians for more than fifty-five years.

EUHA president Martin Blecker presented the award stressing: "We have a coordinated approach to working for the benefit of patients. Your job as phoniatricians is to make the medical diagnosis and arrange for treatment, while we hearing aid acousticians take care of fitting hearing devices, supplemented by the whole service package regarding patients and technology.”

First prize went to Annegret Leuner of Helios Klinikum Bad Saarow. Her paper is entitled: "Adult cochlear implant users are able to discriminate basic tonal features in musical patterns: Evidence from event-related potentials”.

Second prize was awarded to Peter Matulat, Department of Phoniatrics and Paedaudiology, Münster University Hospital, for his research on "Two-way radio modem data transfer for newborn hearing screening devices”.

Third prize was presented to Sevtap Akbulut, Hacettepe University, Lütfü-Kirdar Kartal Egitim ve Arastirma Hastanesi, School of Medicine, Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. The title of his award-winning paper is: "Efficacy of continuous positive airway pressure on middle ear atelectasis: A double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial”.

The European Phoniatric EUHA Hearing Award was presented for the first time in Moscow in 2014. It is offered every two years.