Professional conference - Working with visual and hearing impairment
19 January 2017
Registration deadline 15 December
Work is "a health factor for people with deafblindness," says Mattias Ehn, PhD student at the Audiological Research Centre, Örebro University and psychologist at the deafblind team in Stockholm. He emphasises the importance of staying at work. "On 19 January, we're organising a professional conference at Eikholt kompetansesenter, Konnerud in Drammen. The target group for the seminar is professionals in various agencies.
We've invited Mattias Ehn to join us, and we'll have a lot more on the menu, including presenting the experiences from a workshop in December 2016. This is a workshop for working people with visual and hearing impairments. Through the exchange of experiences, the participants will gain good strategies and be equipped to stay in their jobs.
Also on the programme is Katharine Cecilia Williams, Ph.D and specialist in clinical occupational psychology and cognitive therapy. In her recent dissertation, Williams investigated what factors are involved when a hearing impairment leads to psychosocial stress. In a cross-sectional study, Williams found a link between fear of negative evaluation, avoidance strategies and psychosocial stress. The cognitive therapy model developed by Williams is based on the cognitive therapy model for social anxiety. According to the model, the use of avoidance strategies will perpetuate the anxiety and psychosocial problems (fatigue, social isolation, difficulty concentrating). Participants in the study who had clinically significant levels of mental health problems experienced less anxiety and greater self-efficacy after completing the therapy programme.
Conference fee: NOK 1,000, which includes lunch and refreshments.