This SIG 8 activity includes hearing health care models to address disparities and public heath challenges known within the field of audiology—including challenges in accessing hearing health care. With an expected growth in the population of those affected by hearing loss, innovative and adaptive strategies to meet the growing need for hearing health care is essential. The two articles included provide different approaches to address hearing-related needs in their community. The work by Smiley and Murphy provides a history of the path towards mobile health care and how different mobile audiology service delivery models may be utilized to meet given identified health care and population needs. The authors describe how considerations towards multidisciplinary care and needs assessments may support effective service delivery. Additionally, Hay-McCutcheon et al. present an example of how community health workers may increase access to aural rehabilitation, including for those who receive over-the- counter hearing devices. The authors describe how they approached and developed a community health worker–led education training program in their rural community.

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• describe models of mobile audiology delivery options for use to meet specific health care or public health goals
• describe how community health workers may be trained and utilized to support hearing health care goals and identified challenges

Assessment Type
Self-assessment—Think about what you learned and report on the Completion Form how you will use your new knowledge.

Articles in This Course

1. Navigating the Role of Mobile Audiology in Public Health: Overcoming Hearing Health Care Barriers That Impact the Underserved By Carla S. Smiley and Brandi A. Murphy, published in SIG 8, Volume 9, Issue 5, October 2024
2. Development and Implementation of an Aural Rehabilitation Program Using Community Health Workers in Rural Alabama By Marcia J. Hay-McCutcheon, Abigail Hubbard, Emma B. Brothers, Kerstin Straub, Rebecca S. Allen, Claudia Hardy, and Nancy Tye-Murray, published in SIG 8, Volume 9, Issue 5, October 2024