National awards program honors outstanding people with hearing loss who are changing perceptions of hearing loss
SOMERSET, NJ May 15 -- Oticon, Inc. is looking for outstanding people with hearing loss for the 2019 Oticon Focus on People Awards. The national awards program honors students, adults and advocacy volunteers with any degree of hearing loss whose accomplishments show that hearing loss does not limit a person’s ability to make a positive difference in their communities or the world. By drawing national attention to people doing amazing things, who also happened to have hearing loss, Oticon aims to change negative perceptions that discourage people from seeking hearing healthcare for their hearing loss.
“There is no typical Oticon Focus on People Award winner,” says Nancy Palmere, Director of Consumer Marketing and Public Relations for Oticon, Inc., who heads the national program. “Award winners have included people from all walks of life from ballerinas to fire fighters, librarians to decorated military veterans. In 21 years, we have honored more than 280 remarkable people who share one common characteristic. They have taken their unique circumstances and found a way to make the world a better place -- for others with hearing loss and for all of us.”
Easy to Nominate
Anyone may nominate. Quick and easy nominations forms, available at www.Oticon.com/FOP, can be downloaded or completed online. People with all degrees of hearing loss – from mild to more severe - are eligible. There is also a special category for hearing care practitioners with or without hearing loss. Deadline for nominations is June 20, 2019.
Four Categories with Three Winners in Each
Categories include: Student, for full-time students with hearing loss, ages 6 – 25; Adult, for people with hearing loss, ages 21 and above; and Advocacy, for volunteers with hearing loss, who are actively involved in support efforts for the hard-of-hearing and deaf community. A special Practitionercategory recognizes hearing care professionals who go “above and beyond” through humanitarian and public education efforts.Nominees in the Practitioner category are not required to have a hearing loss to qualify.
First place winners receive a $1,000 cash prize and a $1,000 donation to the charity of their choice. First place winners in the Student, Adult and Advocacy categories also receive Oticon BrainHearing™ hearing devices. Second place winners receive a $500 cash prize and third place winners, a $250 cash prize.
Following the close of nominations, the general public will be invited to vote online to determine first, second and third place winners in each category.
To learn more about the 2019 Oticon Focus on People Awards and to obtain a nomination form, visit www.Oticon.com/FOP or visit the Oticon Partner Page on AudiologyOnline.
