2014 Libby Harricks Memorial Oration
This year's annual Oration will be given by Professor Susan Brumby, director of the National Centre for Farmer Health.
The address will be a feature of the 8th National Deafness Sector Summit, an official associated event of the XXXII World Congress of Audiology.
Sue Brumby began her career as a registered nurse and midwife working in rural and regional Australia and has held an executive position in rural health services since 1998. She has also been actively involved in agriculture, running the family beef and wool property for twelve years. In 2002 combining these two passions, Sue led an innovative community program called Sustainable Farm Families to address these poorer health outcomes. In 2008, Sue commenced as founding Director of the National Centre for Farmer Health in November 2008, a partnership between Western District Health Service and Deakin University.
In 2014 the Libby Harricks Memorial Oration is sponsored by Cochlear.
Making the connections - technical, social, family, community, international
The topic for this year's Libby Harricks Memorial Oration by Professor Susan Brumby is how we engage with people who live in the more isolated parts of Australia and who have unique health issues. These issues include increased rates of suicide, poorer health outcomes for lifestyle diseases and high rates of occupational hearing loss. It is about assisting farm men and women to prevent further hearing loss and empower them to be astute consumers in relation to noise. The presentation is not about the latest medical or audiological breakthrough. It is
about what it is to be human and hear, and has lessons for us all.
Isolation of farm men and women stems not only from geographical challenges and small numbers in the agricultural industries but the invisible and under recognised effect of hearing loss. It is reported that over 60% of Australian farmers have hearing loss and that the damage occurs at a younger age compared to the general population. Farmers are also a group where the cultural image of 'being stoic' is reinforced as part of their life. "It's just the way it is" and "she'll be right" is not helpful when it comes to general health, wellbeing or noise exposure. What happens when we challenge that cultural notion of stoicism, and invite people to learn, understand and even change their behaviour?
To work with farm men and women we combined three important evidence based programs together:
· Firstly, a farmers health program – the Sustainable Farm Families™ program, which was known to engage well with farm men and women and contextualise farmer health into the familiar "triple bottom line" format;
· Secondly, the Montreal Health Hearing Program on rehabilitation and noise induced hearing loss provided the opportunity for farmers to improve their listening and communication skills; and
· Thirdly, on-farm-noise audits enabled farm men and women to measure their noise exposures, and understand which piece of machinery or farm activity does or did harm their hearing.
The combination of these three programs led to the development and implementation of "Shhh hearing in a farming environment".
This presentation will describe the process for engaging with people isolated geographically, socially and through hearing loss. It will outline how important it is for service providers to be prepared to make a difference by going beyond the normal one-on-one clinical approach, and recognise health in its broadest and most raw applications – through workplace, family, social stigma, technology and ultimately through engaged consumers.
"Shhh hearing in a farming environment" builds on what we know from science, technology, social science, learning and behaviour change to help people hear more and listen better. There are lessons we can take from our engagement with farm men and women and apply in other populations with noise induced hearing loss.
Clinical Associate Professor Susan Brumby
DipFMgt, GDipWomen's Studies, MHM, Cert IV Assessment and Training, AFCHSE, MACN, GAICD, PhD (submitted)
Sue began her career as a registered nurse and midwife working in rural and regional Australia and has held an executive position in rural health services since 1998. She has also been actively involved in agriculture, running the family beef and wool property for twelve years. These two different career paths have provided her with a unique insight into the health, wellbeing and safety of farm men and women and the barriers that prevent them enjoying the same health outcomes as Australian metropolitan populations.
In 2002 combining these two passions, (health and agriculture) Sue led an innovative community program called Sustainable Farm Families to address these poorer health outcomes. The SFF program has since received numerous awards —including consumer engagement —and has been adapted and adopted to every state of Australia. It was during this time that the effect of hearing loss was noted amongst farming communities.
In 2008, Sue commenced as founding Director of the National Centre for Farmer Health in November 2008 – a partnership between Western District Health Service and Deakin University. She leads the implementation of five key strategies to improve the health, wellbeing and safety of farm men and women blending both her theoretical and practical understanding of health, agriculture, organisational management and rural communities. Her interests are in service delivery, workforce development, preventable disease, climate adaptation and hearing loss in farmers. Sue is the course leader for the Graduate Certificate in Agricultural Health and Medicine, Principal Investigator of the award winning Sustainable Farm Families™ (SFF) project and Chief Investigator on Australian Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council and previously Rural Industries Research Development Corporation and beyondblue grants. She has been recognized for her contribution to rural health, awarded a Victorian travelling fellowship in 2006 and an overseas study program in 2013 to examine farmer health and decision-making. Sue has presented and published nationally and internationally on farmer health and community involvement. She is a graduate and fellow of the Australian Rural Leadership Program.