QCoal Foundation

The RETAIN Program

In Australia, 4 in every 1,000 children are diagnosed with hearing loss at the start of primary school.  In addition to physical equipment like hearing aids or cochlear implants, many of these children require specialist listening and spoken language therapy to achieve educational and social outcomes in line with their peers. Accessing such therapy is particularly challenging in regional and remote communities where the nearest trained therapist may be several hundred kilometres away.

Recognising this need, QCoal Foundation and Hear and Say jointly partnered to tackle the challenge of supporting school-aged children in regional Queensland with hearing loss through highly specialised speech and language support using telepractice.

The RETAIN (REgional TArgeted INtervention) program, launched in 2021, uses telepractice technology to support school-aged children with hearing loss in regional Queensland to develop and maintain optimal listening, speech and language outcomes, social skills and access to the school curriculum.

Hearing loss can also have significant consequences for children’s development, impacting learning as well as social and emotional wellbeing. For this reason, ongoing monitoring and specialised support throughout children’s school years is critical to ensure they maintain the outcomes achieved through early intervention. This is especially true for those living in regional, rural and remote Queensland communities, where specialist support in schools and other education settings can be much scarcer than in major cities.

Together, our aim is to ensure no child is left behind in their hearing and speech – regardless of where they live.

The RETAIN social venture partnership is in the trial phase. During this phase, philanthropic funding from the QCoal Foundation is used to support delivery of the designed solution and to capture data to demonstrate trial outcomes.

Initial evidence demonstrated the hugely positive impact RETAIN is having for the families who are engaging with the program and supports the effectiveness of telepractice as a way to deliver life-changing listening and spoken language therapy to children with hearing loss in regional and remote communities.

The QCoal Foundation is proud to be a Founding Partner of this initiative supporting students right across regional and remote Queensland to thrive.

Learn more about the RETAIN partnership by watching the video below.