The Active Communication Education Program

Hearing loss is a debilitating condition which can negatively impact the person directly affected and those around them.  Hearing impairment is associated with social isolation, withdrawal, poor quality of life and depression. To help combat this, we developed the Active Communication Education (ACE) program which helps adults with hearing loss to become more effective communicators by providing them with strategies to use in everyday life.  ACE is designed to be facilitated by health professionals such as audiologists, speech and language therapists, nurses and hearing therapists. 

Suitability of ACE

ACE is suitable for adults with hearing impairments including those:

• with hearing loss and do not want to wear hearing aids
• who use hearing aids and are looking for additional strategies to improve communicating.

We encourage family members and significant others to participate.

The ACE program has had positive results with approximately 75% of participants experiencing improvement in communicating.

Facilitate ACE

Information and resources to facilitate ACE can be downloaded below.

• Download the ACE training booklet (PDF, 9751KB)
• View an example ACE session

We are confident that both clients and clinicians will find the ACE program a rewarding experience. ACE is informative and fun and evidence shows that it makes a positive difference to the lives of adults with hearing loss. 

Contact

For more information contact the co-directors of the Communication Disability Centre.

Louise Hickson | ​l.hickson@uq.edu.au
Linda Worrall | l.worrall@uq.edu.au