2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference
March 13 - 15, 2022
10/24/2016 | 9:10 AM - 10:10 AM | The International Humanitarian Hearing Aid Purchasing Program | BGPOP Building 4A/B/C
The International Humanitarian Hearing Aid Purchasing Program
The International Humanitarian Hearing Aid Purchasing Program was born of the need to address the barrier to hearing-aid fittings in low-resource countries. The program is able to provide low-cost, new, digital behind-the-ear hearing aids to qualified members who are providing humanitarian care. These hearing aids do not require computerized equipment for programming adjustments. The concepts embodied in the program have a long history and have existed in many forms over the past 20 years.
Beginning in 1995, through the efforts of Ron Brouillette, such a project began by providing assembled hearing aid kits for world-wide distribution. During the ensuing years, various organizations have addressed the issue of affordable hearing care. In 2012, the International Humanitarian Hearing Aid Purchasing Program was formed and is under the administration of Mayflower Medical Outreach, with the support of the Coalition for Global Hearing Health.
To date, the program has had a wide reach, with recipients in North and South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe benefiting from this program. This presentation addresses aspects of the program, including history, philosophy, membership requirements, the vetting process, types of hearing aids offered, and the procedure with which to place orders. Recent developments such as inclusion of Personal Sound Amplification Products (PSAP) and the availability of low-cost hearing aid batteries are also addressed.
- Outlining the challenges to providing quality hearing aid care in low resource regions.
- Providing information on a low cost hearing aid program of benefit to humanitarians
- Providing the tools in which to access the IHHAPP.
Presentation:
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Presenters/Authors
Debra Fried
(), Mayflower Medical Outreach, DebraFriedMMO@aol.com;
Debra is a clinical audiologist and Coordinator of Audiology for the ambulatory care clinics at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. She provides diagnostic audiological, hearing aid and cochlear implant services. She manages the newborn hearing screening program for the hospital which has over 6,000 annual births.
Debra volunteers her time as Director of Audiology for Mayflower Medical Outreach, a U.S. based non-governmental organization providing hearing care services in Nicaragua. She works collaboratively to develop hearing health care programs while in Nicaragua as well as remotely. She is also a member of the International Humanitarian Hearing Aid Purchasing Program HHAPP. Debra is the 2019 recipient of the American Academy of Audiology Humanitarian Audiology Award.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
Anita Stein-Meyers
(), Mayflower Medical Outreach, AStein@chchearing.org;
Dr. Anita Stein-Meyers is the Assistant Director of the Shelley and Steven Einhorn Audiology Center at the Center for Hearing and Communication (CHC) and has worked as an audiologist at CHC since 1986. Anita's area of expertise is the comprehensive audiological evaluation and amplification fitting of infants and young children. Through the use of state-of-the-art equipment and her years of knowledge she brings expert care and compassion to families throughout the tri-state area. She received her Master's Degree in Audiology in 1986 from Brooklyn College and her Doctor of Audiology degree in 2003 from the Arizona School of Health Sciences. Anita has presented on hearing loss in children at state and national conventions. She is certified by the American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association, is a member of the American Academy of Audiology, and is licensed in the state of New York.
Anita has been a member of the Mayflower Medical Outreach team since 2012 and enjoys supporting the development of hearing health care and services in Nicaragua. She has fitted hundreds of hearing aids in Nicaragua through the Mayflower Medical Outreach/Coalition for Global Hearing Health IHHAPP program.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
Ronald Brouillette
(), SEKOMU (University) in Tanzania, Ron_Brouillette@yahoo.com;
Ron initially learned practical audiology and deaf education from his 3 years younger deaf brother and his deaf friends who became 'projects' of his electrical engineering father. After high school and traipsing across the U.S. at the excuse of higher education, Ron obtained a masters degree, and worked at various schools for the Deaf including Rochester, NY and State Schools for the Deaf in Oregon, and Arizona. Ron answered the call of the wild to serve those with hearing loss and without services in Africa and Asia. He worked in various capacities in audiology and deaf education in over 18 developing countries for over 40 years with the exception of brief gaps for UN work, a University of Arizona PhD and 5 years teaching at the University of Manchester, England. He recently joined the Starkey Hearing Foundation to successfully develop community-based after services for recipients of hundreds of thousands of free hearing aids. He lasted two years there, and is now back in Tanzania developing masters level community-based audiology and deaf education training programs at the university level.
Ron serves on the Mayflower Medical Outreach/Coalition for Global Hearing Health IHHAPP Team having initiated the hearing aid co-op buying scheme around 18 years ago while working with CBM in the Philippines.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -