Holly Teagle represents The Hearing House on the global stage

Holly Teagle, The Hearing House’s Clinical Director, addressed a global audience of advocates, clinicians, and cochlear implant recipients at the recent Cochlear Implant International Community of Action (CIICA) global conference held in Brussels.  

Around 150 participants from around the world came together under the theme Where Science Meets Experience to share strategies, challenges and successes in advocating for sustainable cochlear implant services. Real-time captioning in five languages and a sign language interpreter ensured the event was fully accessible to everyone who attended.

“Many of the attendees were cochlear implant recipients themselves, or family members of recipients, so messages were personal, heartfelt, and impactful,” says Holly.

Holly chaired a session titled Delivering Services Differently — where she shared The Hearing House’s experiences of expanding outreach services through its mobile hearing clinic.

She described how, in one year, The Hearing House’s capacity to reach people through its outreach services increased by 24 percent, making a real difference in communities experiencing some of the highest social and economic challenges in Aotearoa New Zealand.

A major theme throughout the conference was influencing governments and building grassroots' advocacy for more funding for technology and services.

“Several speakers triggered ideas for expanding our work in New Zealand: making the advocacy message consistent, presenting solutions rather than problems, pairing evidence with personal stories, and mapping influence through every channel in a consistent message,” says Holly.

Holly Teagle with the speakers from the session she chaired. From L to R: Hen van Rees from Belgium; Kirby van As from Netherlands; Jantien Vroegop from Rotterdam; Carolina Der from Chile; and Helen Cullington from the UK.

Holly was particularly interested in sessions focusing on post-implant services, especially rehabilitation, and noted how different programmes in various countries have prioritised adult rehabilitation through support groups and social events.

The Parents as Advocates session included inspirational speakers, such as a mother of a cochlear implant user from Brazil whose address titled, I got the lead role without auditioning!  described the development of hearing support services in Brazil, fueled by strong and resilient parents.

A mother of a cochlear implant recipient from South African also shared practical educational resources that she had developed herself, including guides for teachers and schools and children’s books that can be translated and circulated.

Exhibition stands at CIICA 2025

The session on Cochlear Implants in Low-Resource Countries, including Chile, India, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kenya, and Armenia, highlighted how advocacy should be carefully strategised when resources are limited.

“It made me very grateful for our charitable partners who support The Hearing House’s development beyond the base funding so that we can enhance our scope in creative ways,” says Holly.

The conference reinforced a simple but powerful message, she says.

“CIICA reminds me that as long as there’s a will, there’s a way.

“Advocacy, equity and representation are core and key elements for progress.”

Global advocates united at CIICA’s CI Advocacy in Action 2025