Thursday 5, February 2026

Kate started the meeting by providing updates about what has happened since our last meeting. 

• We had our first online ALL_EARS meeting in December.  
• We have been writing up the evaluation findings to publish. 
• We are planning for Science and Engineering Day 2026
• We submitted a paper about the barriers and motivators to cochlear implantation. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.08.26343668v1
• We now have printed versions of the leaflet Sarah created. 

Kate reminded the group that Bethan is still recruiting people to take part in her research study about hearing loss and anxiety.  

Kate went on to share information about new research that was released by RNID at the end of January which exposed that 92% of NHS staff in England have not completed training on the Accessible Information Standard. 

This means that 92% of NHS staff in England lack an awareness of the rights that patients with a disability or sensory loss have when it comes to having access to information and services and having the right communication support. 

Click here to read more on the RNID website. 

This links to our ongoing work and discussions around increasing deaf awareness to healthcare workers and the public. 

The meeting objectives were to:

1. To develop ideas for the deaf awareness resource. 
2. To discuss what support and learning opportunities would be beneficial for group members and researchers to support public involvement?

Activity 1 

To develop ideas for the deaf awareness resource. 

Group members were asked to think about the following questions and discuss in small groups:

• What has changed about your life?
• How does hearing loss or deafness affect your life?
• Or your loved one’s life?
• What challenges do you or others face that hearing people are not aware of?

Group members shared their experiences which will be used to co-develop a deaf awareness resource. 

Activity 2

For the second half of the meeting, we discussed the question:

What support and learning opportunities would be beneficial for group members and researchers to support public involvement?

In small groups, group members were asked to discuss what skills do researchers and group members need for effective public involvement and engagement.

What skills do researchers need for effective public involvement and engagement?

• Good communication skills 
• Good listening skills 
• The ability to explain their research to a lay audience
• Empathy 
• Patience 
• The ability to not use jargon, technical language and acronyms 
• Good presentation skills – avoid turning to look at the slide when presenting, speak slowly and clearly, look at attendees 
• Analytical skills 
• Understanding and use of appropriate technologies for the audience 
• Able to clearly explain the roadblocks and what they need from the group 

What skills do group members need for effective public involvement and engagement?

• Basic communication skills 
• Being a good listener 
• Able to show interest to the person you are speaking to 
• The awareness to use layman terms when talking about healthcare 
• Use terminology where appropriate but in a respectful way 
• Being a good observer 
• Patience 
• Give attention to the person speaking
• Able to use tools to help with communication such as Live Transcribe
• Able to give and receive feedback
• Have empathy, compassion and an awareness of other people’s needs 
• An understanding of what resources are available to group members to take to meetings and community events 

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