9th Annual Coalition for Global Hearing Health
26-28 October 2018 • University of Cape Town, South Africa

26-28 October 2018
University of Cape Town,
South Africa

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 2018 Annual Conference of the Coalition for Global Hearing Health (CGHH). Each of these workshops will be held at Cape Town University on Friday October 26, 2018. The workshops provide more in-depth material and generally have more interaction or hands-on participation than is possible during the 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	A critical component of successful and sustainable community-based ear and hearing care services in low - and middle - income countries, is prompt provision of earmolds for dispensed hearing aids. Although, earmold laboratories can ensure success, the time to train and resources required for production can be prohibitive. However, when costs are kept low, 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 Ears, Inc. (a charitable organization), has been used effectively in many parts of the world, and enhanced 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 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 discuss 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.
Selvarani Moodley Bianca Birdsey Family and Community Empowerment 9 AM - 12 PM	Children identified with a hearing loss need early intervention to develop language and communication skills. A delay in building language leads to delays in cognitive, socio-emotional and perceptual development, as well as consequent delays in future academic outcomes and vocational opportunities. In the absence of government funding for early screening and intervention for children born with hearing loss, the onus falls on the community to help support deaf children and their families. Research highlights that the two key determinants for the successful outcomes of deaf children are: early involvement in early intervention, and active family involvement. Families become actively involved when they are empowered. The process of informed choice is at the centre of first world intervention and is a key component of family and community empowerment for children with hearing loss. In developing countries there is a lack of understanding of informed choice and empowerment. This workshop will focus on addressing the following questions: What is informed choice? How do we equip communities to take on the dual task of early intervention and family empowerment? What resources are needed for family and community empowerment? What is partnership and what partnerships are needed? What roles do Deaf Adults and parent leaders have in the process of family and community empowerment? These questions will be discussed with practical examples from families and communities provided with early intervention services in South Africa.
Andrew Smith Introduction to Public Health Planning for Hearing Impairment 12:30 PM - 4:30 PM	WHO estimates that 466 million people in the world have disabling hearing loss in 2018 and 80% live in low and middle income (LMI) 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 presenter currently runs 5-day courses on Public Health Planning for Hearing Impairment in collaboration with Universities in LMI countries. The courses aim to develop an expanding cadre of people in LMI countries with the skills to set up public-health interventions and programmes for prevention and rehabilitation of hearing loss. So far over 900 people from 43 countries have been trained on these courses. This session will act as an introduction to the course by outlining key principles of public health needed to address hearing loss, and key actions needed for planning programmes on a large scale where there are scarce resources. The half 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. *Learning Objectives:* Understand the global problem of ear disease and hearing loss: focusing on national, regional and global levels. Apply public health principles to primary, secondary & tertiary prevention and rehabilitation of hearing impairment/disability. Relate to the work in ear and hearing care of global organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and initiatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and their relevance at a local district level. Review the training and impact of Primary Ear and Hearing Care. See how to apply health education and health promotion activities at the community level. Understand and learn to apply principles of planning to develop ear and hearing health projects or programmes.
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.)