8th Annual Coalition for Global Hearing Health
12-14 October 2017 • University of Miami (Coral Gables Campus) • Miami, USA

12-14 October 2017
University of Miami,
(Coral Gables Campus)
Miami, Florida, USA

Pre-Sessions

Registration cost for each pre-session workshop is $25 per person.

The following pre-session workshops are being held in conjunction with the 2017 Annual Conference of the Coalition for Global Hearing Health (CGHH). Each of these workshops will be held at the University of Miami (Coral Gables Campus): Donna Shalala Student Activity Center on Thursday October 12, 2017. The workshops provide more in-depth material and generally have more interaction or hands-on participation than is the case for presentations at the conference. Enrollment in a pre-session workshops is $25.00(USD) and can be paid as a part of your registration for the CGHH conference.

David Pither Operating a Field Based Earmold Lab 9 AM - 3 PM	One critical component of successful and sustainable community based ear and hearing care services, in a low - and middle - income country, is prompt provision of earmolds for dispensed hearing aids. Though, earmold laboratories can ensure success, the time to train and resources required for production can be very time intensive and cost prohibitive. However, when costs are abated, the earmold lab can become a serendipitous cottage industry opportunity in a region that will benefit from a fiscal boost. This workshop will provide information about materials required as well as the protocol for production. The model created by the charity, Ears, Inc., has been used effectively in many parts of the world, and enhance d local economy with much needed cottage industry skills. The workshop will provide instruction for production materials, and suggest the infra-structure for establishing the earmold lab, as well as recommend training procedures for the local program partners.
Jim Saunders Debra Fried Jim Smith A Practical Guide to Humanitarian Missions for Improving Hearing Health 9 AM - 12 PM	The workshop presenters have organized dozens of humanitarian outreach trips and non-profit programs in Central America, Africa, and Asia. Based on that experience the workshop will explore how humanitarian outreach has changed in recent years and some ethical issues inherit in doing this type of work. The practical issues related to humanitarian trips in audiology and otolaryngology will be explored including selecting a location for the work, recruiting team members, team and local site preparation, equipment needs, establishing follow up, and sustainability issues. Specific issues and methods of educating both the team members and local providers will be presented and discussed. Teaching methods employed in this pre-conference session will include lectures, presentations by a panel of experts (followed by a Q & A session) and conclude with suggestions for best practices for humanitarian trips focusing on hearing health care.
Kari Morgenstein, Au.D Ivette Cejas, Ph.D Alex Mestres, B.Ed Lisa Kovacs Family Engagement Powers Hearing Device Technology 9 AM - 12 PM	Family engagement is one of the most important predictors of a childâ€™s early success and their development into adulthood. There is little emphasis on effective engagement of families in standard clinical practice. This is further amplified in increasingly complex healthcare systems and/or low resourced environments. As a result, hearing healthcare providers spend the majority of their clinical time addressing the hearing loss and/or hearing device. Hearing device technology has improved significantly over the past few decades. Despite this, we continue to see considerable variability in outcomes for children with hearing loss. The success of intervention with hearing devices is largely driven by the support the child receives outside of the clinical setting both in the home and at school. Outside stressors, poor support system, and/or limited financial resources can serve as barriers to family engagement. These factors may inhibit the familyâ€™s ability to access or retain the information provided and ultimately limit their ability to advocate on behalf of the child with hearing loss. This workshop with review novel ways to promote family engagement in a busy clinical setting, discuss barriers families of children with hearing loss experience, and identify strategies to remove these barriers to foster family engagement. Providing comprehensive hearing healthcare can be a challenge. This is further amplified in low resourced environments. A multidisciplinary approach for optimizing parent engagement toward the common goal of improved hearing outcomes will be presented. Learning Objectives: Discuss the importance of family engagement in successful management of pediatric hearing loss. Review novel ways to promote family engagement in demanding clinical settings. Identify barriers that limit family engagement and strategies to remove those barriers.
Andrew Smith Daksha Patel The Global Challenge in Ear and hearing health – an overview of the course on Public Health Planning for Hearing Impairment 12:30 PM - 4:30 PM	360 million people in the world have disabling hearing loss, including 32 million children. 80% live in low and middle income countries. It is also a significant problem amongst disadvantaged groups in high-income countries. Hearing loss delays and damages development of language in young children, slows school progress, causes difficulties obtaining and keeping a job, increases dementia in older people and leads to stigmatization at all ages. It results in poverty for individuals and families, and massive economic costs for society. Hearing loss is largely avoidable through appropriate prevention strategies but is generally neglected due to lack of awareness amongst health professionals and policy makers, as well as the general public. It can only be addressed on a large scale by adopting a public health approach within the existing health system. The purpose of this course is to expand capacity building for public health knowledge and skills in ear and hearing health (EHH) amongst professionals and health planners. The presenters are world reknown specialists who have provided course content for public health approaches in hearing Impairment since 2010 with colleagues in 7 centres in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. 646 participants from 41 countries have so far been trained in 23 courses. The day course is appropriate for academics and professionals in Otology and Audiology and allied fields, and health planners from Ministries of Health and Education, and Non-Governmental Organizations. Key outputs from the courses include: training local faculty in public health approaches, raising awareness and advocacy for hearing loss at a local level, local assessment of need and gaps within district health programmes, initiating the development of national and local programmes, and specific screening programmes such as for neonates and school health. The aim is to familiarise participants with the concepts and principles of public health approaches to ear and hearing care, with emphasis on planning and application within health systems or hearing health programmes in low and middle income countries, and disadvantaged groups in high-income countries. The key learning objectives Relate the principles and practice of public health and the application of prevention strategies against hearing impairment. Review the epidemiology and evidence of ear disease and hearing loss globally, with a focus on low and middle income countries, and disadvantaged groups in high-income countries. Examine population-based research methods (qualitative and quantitative) used in ear and hearing care. Appraise the role of primary ear and hearing care and its training, for prevention and early detection of hearing loss. Understand the principles of planning, and develop a plan for ear and hearing health priorities appropriate for a local health system.
Dirk Koekemoer Tele-Audiology for humanity 12:30 PM - 3:30 PM	What could possibly be in common between astronauts living on the International Space Station (ISS) and people eking out a living in rural sub-Saharan Africa? It's not just isolation that joins these two sets of seemingly contrasting faces of humanity. Ironically enough, it is access to high-quality healthcare. Tele-Audiology aims at increasing the access and quality of healthcare and at the same time reducing the costs. Unlike developed nations where the average ratio of audiologists to the general population is about 1:20,000, the ratio of audiologists to the population in the developing world could be lower than 1 for every million people. This shortage of audiological healthcare services can partly be addressed by deploying Tele-Audiology solutions to these underserved areas. Whether you are stationed in the U.S. or in South Africa, or on the space station for that matter, it is now possible to deliver advanced audiological services to isolated communities. The aim of this workshop is for attendees to: Understand the technology options available to deliver cost-effective Tele-Audiology screening and diagnostic services, ranging from automated store-and-forward testing to live synchronous testing Understand the infrastructure needed to deliver remote Tele-Audiology services for primary health care Practically see and experience asynchronous Tele-Audiology in action Perform their own live, synchronous transatlantic remote consultation and hearing tests; ranging from remote Otoscopy, AC, BC, Tympanometry with reflexes and Speech audiometry (For Attendees: If possible, please bring your own laptop or tablet to do remote hearing tests. Connectivity will be provided.)