Breaking Barriers by Power Trade Media

HELPING LEADERS BECOME

B E T T E R S T E WA R D S .

Breaking Hearing Loss

Barriers: Let the Word Be Heard by All Members of Your Church

Presented by: Listen Technologies

CHURCH EXECUTIVE • B R E A K I N G B A R R I E R S

churchexecutive.com

Table of Contents WELCOME TO WORSHIP: HOW TO RECOGNIZE HEARING LOSS — AND PROVIDE SOLUTIONS 3 Hearing loss is often known as the “invisible disability.” Those among us who have it, often prefer to try to cope with it, live with it, or hide it from others. And yet, this so-called invisible disability affects about 20 percent of American adults! This means that potentially, one out of five of congregants are not hearing messages and music that inspire them each week in your house of worship. By Maile Keone

CONNECTING CONGREGANTS TO INSPIRATION WITH ASSISTIVE LISTENING 6 Congregants attend their houses of worship for many different reasons. Some find inspiration from the messages and music they hear, and others enjoy connecting with the community. Whatever the reason, if they can’t hear the messages that inspire them — or if they lose the feeling of connection they get with fellow congregants because they can’t participate in conversations — they might stop attending. Unfortunately, for congregants who have hearing loss, this happens more frequently than it should. By Maile Keone

BEST PRACTICES: INTEGRATING HEARING ACCESSIBILITY INTO YOUR CHURCH CULTURE

Assistive listening systems are a key component in the effort to provide everyone with equal opportunities to commune and worship, regardless of their respective hearing abilities. Connecting each person with the inspirational messages they seek is a critical mission for every church and house of worship. By Maile Keone

churchexecutive.com

B R E A K I N G B A R R I E R S • CHURCH EXECUTIVE

BREAKING BARRIERS

Welcome to worship

How to recognize hearing loss — and provide solutions By Maile Keone

Hearing loss is often known as the “invisible disability.” Those among us who have it, often prefer to try to cope with it, live with it, or hide it from others. And yet, this so-called invisible disability affects about 20 percent of American adults! This means that potentially, one out of five of congregants are not hearing messages and music that inspire them each week in your house of worship. It can be difficult to recognize hearing loss, whether it is our own, or that of someone we love. It often develops gradually and affects people differently. There are certain signs to look for when it comes to determining whether or not someone is losing his or her hearing. It is, of course, advisable to visit your physician or an audiologist, if you think that you or someone you love has hearing loss. 7 signs of hearing loss #1: High volume level on the TV, car radio or home stereo #2: Difficulty understanding or following group conversations #3: Difficulty focusing or hearing when people are speaking in another room #4: The need to have things repeated #5: Difficulty understanding people in crowded places, such as restaurants, or during weekly worship services #6: Difficulty hearing phone conversations #7: Withdrawal from social situations and activities There are many things that can be done to help people who have hearing loss. One of the best actions to take is to install an assistive listening system. Providing an assistive listening system in your house of worship can increase attendance and a sense of community within your congregation, help people with hearing loss and language barriers feel less isolated, and, most important, ensure that everyone hears inspirational messages during weekly worship services. Know your options There are three types of assistive listening systems. The type of system to install depends on the needs of your congregation, the laws in your local jurisdiction, and the acoustics in your house of worship. Before determining what type of assistive listening system is best for your house of worship, it might be a good idea to take a survey among your congregation to see how familiar they are with the technology and to see how many people would benefit from the system — the results might surprise you. 4

CHURCH EXECUTIVE • B R E A K I N G B A R R I E R S

It is also a wise idea to look up the local laws in your area on providing assistive listening in a house of worship. There are many jurisdictions in separate states that require houses of worship to provide assistive listening to their practitioners. 3 types of assistive listening #1: Radio Frequency (RF) — Works like a radio to deliver sound to a congregant’s receiver and is typically the least expensive assistive listening system to install #2: Infrared (IR) — Uses light (like a TV remote control) to transmit sound to a congregant’s receiver; is great for houses of worship that want to use it for simultaneous broadcasts, like assistive listening and language interpretation #3: Hearing Loop — Provides congregants with discreet and personal listening experiences, because they can use their own hearing aids (if equipped with t-coils) as a receiver. Hearing loops can also be used with other types of receivers, for people who do not have t-coil-equipped hearing aids. Hearing loss affects all of us, whether it is our own, one of our loved ones, or someone with whom we attend weekly worship services. One of the most important things to remember when considering hearing loss is that it is invisible and can be very isolating. This isolation can lead people to stop enjoying the activities they love, including attending church each week. Reaching out and making people with hearing loss feel welcome in congregations is important. Making sure that they can hear the words and music that inspire them — with the help of an assistive listening system — is even more so. Maile Keone is VP of Marketing at Listen Technologies in Bluffdale, UT. www.listentech.com churchexecutive.com

SO YOU CAN...INSPIRE

The Revolutionary Receiver for Assistive Listening

The Revolutionary Receiver from Listen Technologies is half the weight and size of standard receivers, provides superior audio quality, is available in RF and IR models, and costs substantially less. Visit listentech.com for more information.

BREAKING BARRIERS

Connecting congregants to inspiration with assistive listening By Maile Keone

Congregants attend their houses of worship for many different reasons. Some find inspiration from the messages and music they hear, and others enjoy connecting with the community. Whatever the reason, if they can’t hear the messages that inspire them — or if they lose the feeling of connection they get with fellow congregants because they can’t participate in conversations — they might stop attending. Unfortunately, for congregants who have hearing loss, this happens more frequently than it should.

CHURCH EXECUTIVE • B R E A K I N G B A R R I E R S

churchexecutive.com

An estimated 20 percent of American adults have a measurable degree of hearing loss — and that number rises dramatically when calculated on a worldwide scale. To make this number more tangible, the next time you attend a worship service, look around your congregation and count one out of every five members. This is potentially how many people could stop attending, or could be missing out on the full message, due to the inability to hear clearly. You might be thinking, People who have hearing loss wear hearing aids. You might also think that hearing aids should solve any listening issues — but, this is a large misconception. While hearing aids solve some of the issues related to hearing loss, they don’t solve everything. Hearing aids are designed to work the best within three to six feet. They also amplify all sound. To give a more applicable example, if someone with a hearing aid is sitting farther than six feet from the pulpit, and surrounded by a lot of background noise (like an HVAC system, a crying child or shuffling papers) he or she will have a very difficult time hearing the speaker, because the background noises will also be amplified. Fortunately, there are additional technologies that exist that provide people with hearing loss with great listening experiences in houses of worship, as well as other public venues. These assistive listening technologies work with or without hearing aids. There are three types of assistive listening technologies available: radio frequency (RF), infrared (IR), and hearing loop. Each type of assistive listening technology comes with its own unique benefits. When installing an assistive listening system in your house of worship, it is important to consider which type of system will work best in the space. For example, if there are line-of-sight issues — such as columns or other visual barriers — it might be best to install an RF system. If simultaneous broadcasts and a secure audio signal are required, so that the sound does not travel from room to room, an IR system should be considered. Finally, a hearing loop should be considered if there are many congregants with telecoil-equipped hearing aids who attend worship services each week. It might also be wise to consider a hearing loop if your house of worship is undergoing construction of some kind, as it can be installed within the physical structure of the building.

churchexecutive.com

Along with providing better listening experiences for those with hearing loss, an assistive listening system can be used for other things in your house of worship. Portable RF assistive listening systems can be used for tour groups and sunrise services. These systems are also very useful if there members in your congregation who speak different languages; they can provide different listening channels for language interpretation.

It’s important to provide the best possible experience for congregants in your house of worship — and that includes giving them the opportunity to hear the messages and music that inspire them each week, as well as connecting with their church community. No matter what type of technology you choose, providing an assistive listening system in your house of worship can help ensure your congregants keep listening to inspiration. Maile Keone is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Listen Technologies [ www.listentech.com ] in Bluffdale, UT. She is an advocate for people with hearing loss and a spokesperson on mandatory assistive listening compliance worldwide.

B R E A K I N G B A R R I E R S • CHURCH EXECUTIVE

BREAKING BARRIERS

Best practices: integrating hearing accessibility into your church culture By Maile Keone Like a beautiful painting or a touching melody, the spoken word has the power to move us in profound ways. It can give comfort in times of need or spark the imagination with new ideas. But, for too many —due to hearing loss — the spoken word is often beyond reach. More so than ever before, we are fortunate now to have tools and technology that allow those affected by hearing impairment to participate fully in the activities they love, from taking classes, to attending performances, to joining together in worship. Assistive listening devices reopen doors that not long ago were closed. Still, many organizations lack systems and equipment that could open their doors to countless scores of underserved individuals. Assistive listening systems are a key component in the effort to provide everyone with equal opportunities to commune and worship, regardless of their respective hearing abilities. Connecting each person with the inspirational messages they seek is a critical mission for every church and house of worship. Connecting everyone The Centers for Disease Control estimate that nearly 15 percent of adults experience some degree of hearing impairment. That percentage equates to more than 37 million Americans 18 and older who have some difficulty with hearing fully or at all. Hearing aids and cochlear implants are terrific for helping individuals with hearing impairments to participate fully in day-to-day activities, but often they are not sufficient for larger settings, such as worship services. By contrast, assistive listening devices do more than simply amplify sounds; they provide clean, filtered, focused audio directly to each listener, allowing them to fully experience sermons, verses and passages. This ensures that every congregant can partake in the services. Fortunately, the difficult task of creating a culture that welcomes and provides for any worshipper is already done. Churches work each day to spread the message far and wide, and they welcome all to hear the stirring words of every service. Putting those aspirations into practice calls for a commitment to accessibility among both church leaders and parishioners. Incorporating assistive listening into any house of worship, regardless of its size, demonstrates such a commitment and allows congregants of every age and ability to be welcomed fully into your church. Sounds, simple The latest assistive listening systems are as unobtrusive as they are effective. A microphone (which is likely already in use), a transmitter, and receivers for those individuals using the equipment are the basic elements of any setup. With these three features in place, your house of worship becomes more inclusive and more accessible to everyone. 8

CHURCH EXECUTIVE • B R E A K I N G B A R R I E R S

Display signage to indicate that your church is equipped with an assistive listening system.

The other critical part is communication — let your current and future congregants know that your church offers the accommodations they need, and expand your reach to welcome all who wish to call your church home. Start here Begin with the simplest task first: Ask your parishioners about their assistive listening needs and how they can be better served by your church. A simple survey can go a long way, and can be distributed in person or completed online — whichever is most convenient for your members. Regardless of the chosen method, the end goal is the same: understanding the specific needs of your congregation to help you choose the best-suited equipment and installation. Whether formal or informal, the results of these might surprise you. There might be several members who would benefit from assistive listening of whom you were unaware. What will likely not come as a surprise, though, is the desire among all members to ensure a supportive, inclusive and inviting worship space for all. Providing such a space is already one of the central tenets in any house of worship. Take time to consider what would be most beneficial to your churchgoers, and explore the many options available for sharing your message. Assistive listening systems are certain to play an integral part in bringing the congregation together and sharing in the joy of each service. Maile Keone is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Listen Technologies [ www.listentech.com ] in Bluffdale, UT. She is an advocate for people with hearing loss and a spokesperson on mandatory assistive listening compliance worldwide. churchexecutive.com