Organization: AEA European Association of Hearing Aid Professionals
Title: Virtual Lunch Debate from the European Parliament “World Hearing Day 2026 – From School to Workplace”
Al title (for format and translation – not permanent:
Virtual lunch debate from the European Parliament “World Hearing Day 2026 – From School to Workplace”
Description:
AEA (European Association of Hearing Aid Professionals), EFHOH (European Federation of Hard of Hearing People) and EHIMA (European Hearing Instrument Manufacturer Association) join forces in this yearly virtual event from the European Parliament for World Hearing Day.
This year, the host is MEP Katrin LANGENSIEPEN (Germany , EPP)
Thursday the 5th of March 2025 – 12:00-14:00h CET
All presentations are supported with Speech to Text.
Program:
• 12.00 Welcome – MEP Katrin LANGENSIEPEN
• 12.15 WHO World Hearing Day 2026 theme – Shelly Chadha – WHO
• 12.30 My story: From the school to employment – Nicole Sophie Marinos – AHEAD | Disability Advocate
• 12.45 The role of hearing health in employment and job retention – Stefan Zimmer – EHIMA
• 13.00 The Impact of Hearing Loss, Hearing Care and Empowerment in the Workplace, Survey results part 1 – Mark Laureyns – AEA
• 13.15 The Impact of Hearing Loss, Hearing Care and Empowerment in the Workplace, Survey results part 2 – Lidia Best– EFHOH
• 13.30 Debate – All
• 13.50 Conclusion
• 14.00 End
Participation is free of charge, but registration is mandatory: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LCSKM_c5R1SLzogtnOaJQw
We kindly request you to share this event with your network
Thank you,
Lidia Best, EFHOH
Stefan Zimmer, EHIMA
Mark Laureyns, AEA
Primary site: EUR – _Throughout the Euopean Region
Region: EUR
Secondary sites:Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland
Impactful Story:
In the last lunch debate, the topic was already related to the impact of hearing loss and hearing care on employment.
This resulted in a joint project by EFHOH (European Federation of Hard of Hearing People), AEA (European Association of Hearing Aid Professionals) and the Audiology department of the Thomas More University College in Antwerp, to launch a survey for Hard of Hearing People who are or were active on the workfloor. We have noticed that we all need to step up, to take empowerment more serious, to better inform and support hard of hearing people better to be successful.
General Photos
Invitation to join the Virtual Lunch Debate from the EP
Types of Engagement:
Live event: No
Screening: No
Traditional media: Yes
Social media: Yes
Special needs populations: persons with disabilities (including hearing loss), children and adolescents, older adults
Met with individual policymaker: Yes
Participation of policy makers: Yes
Participation of influencers: Yes
WHO technical tool used: Yes
WHO educational and social media used: Yes