Hello, my name is Georgie. I have recently joined the British Tinnitus Association as a research officer and I am excited to be the first researcher to be based within the BTA office with the rest of the team.
I have been doing academic research for over a decade and I have worked on several health-related projects. I have also been a carer for a family member, which has given me insight into the potential difficulties of living with both physical and mental ill health. I am eager to hear more about what it is like to live with tinnitus and I am looking forward to working with you, our members, on some exciting new research projects.
Here at the BTA, in collaboration with the University of Nottingham, we have secured funding from The Royal British Legion from the Aged Veterans Fund, funded by the Chancellor using LIBOR funds. This fund was set up to help aged ex-service personnel who may need some health-related support or who have social care needs. There are a number of other projects being developed by other charities who have also been awarded research grants from the same fund to explore the needs of aged British military veterans.
We are currently in the early stages of planning our two-year research project. We have been awarded this research grant to explore how tinnitus impacts aged UK military veterans (born before 1 January 1950) and the support that they may need. Our research will highlight any tinnitus support that is currently available specifically for veterans and make recommendations for future support based on the needs of veterans who have tinnitus.
Most previous research exploring veterans with tinnitus has been done in the US and has found that tinnitus is prevalent amongst those who have served in the American Armed Forces. Ageing increases the risk of hearing loss, which can be a factor in developing tinnitus. We hope to use the findings from our research to suggest recommendations which could positively impact the support received by current and future veterans of the UK Armed Forces.
We plan to ask people to take part in this research later this year, so if you or anyone you know fits the criteria (military veteran born before 1 January 1950) and would like to be updated on this research, please register your interest by contacting me on [email protected] or 0114 250 9933
