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10/26/2019  |   3:45 PM - 5:00 PM   |  Ventana Ballroom C

Mesa West Rotary “Ayudame a Escuchar” Humanitarian Outreach to Guaymas, Mexico

The Mesa West (formerly Mesa Baseline) Rotary club has sponsored the “Ayudame a Escuchar” or “Help me to Hear” humanitarian mission to Guaymas, Mexico for 26 years. There are also logistical, financial, and volunteer contributions from the Guaymas Rotary Club. The town of Guaymas and surrounding local communities lack ENT and audiologic services. The mission incorporates the skills of audiologists, otolaryngologists, students training in these disciplines, as well as countless volunteers and translators. The club is based in Mesa, Arizona, but volunteers hail from all over the United States. The primary trip occurs in the late fall, with two patient care days. There are triage, ENT, audiologic evaluation, hearing aid fitting, and counseling stations. Hearing aids are purchased from Mayflower Medical Outreach with fundraising by and donations to the Mesa West Rotary club. General non-surgical ENT services are provided to include infection management and cerumen removal, though PE tube placement is also completed in select cases. To date, over 5500 individuals ranging from six months to 108 years have been seen. Most recently in 2018, 370 individuals were seen, with 150 hearing aids fit. Challenges include patient compliance with care and use of hearing aids. Additionally, there is not a clear structure for continuity of care for patients who need auditory brainstem response (ABR), MRI or CT scans, or further medical management as some services are not available locally. We are only there to provide care two days out of the year, thus lacking sustainability. To overcome this, three audiometric technicians are being trained to provide basic testing and hearing aid maintenance throughout the year on a quarterly basis. It is also a goal to refine currently used counseling materials to assist patients with long-term care and troubleshooting of their hearing aids, thus increasing compliance.

• Provide overview of the model used for the annual Mesa West Rotary “Ayudame a Escuchar” Humanitarian Outreach to Guaymas, Mexico.
• Discuss challenges encountered in the annual Mesa West Rotary “Ayudame a Escuchar” Humanitarian Outreach to Guaymas, Mexico.

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Robert Jensen (Author,Co-Author), Mesa West Rotary Club, bobcat2@cox.net;
Robert J. Jensen, MS is a retired clinical audiologist who lives in Mesa, AZ with his wife, Nancy. He obtained a BS in Speech Pathology and Audiology from Southern Illinois University and his MS in Audiology from Arizona State University. He was the Director of Hearing Services for the Arizona Department of Health Services. He was appointed to two terms to the Arizona Council for the Deaf by Gov. Bruce Babbitt. He worked as a consultant to various State, Federal and Native American government hearing healthcare programs. He owned Tri-City Audiology, a private practice in Mesa, from 1983 until he retired in 2011. Because of his humanitarian missions, he has received the 2011 Honors of the Association from the Arizona Speech, Language and Hearing Association, the 2007 Crystal Award in Audiology from AT Still University and the 2016 Humanitarian of the Year Award from the American Academy of Audiology.

ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Nonfinancial -

AAA DISCLOSURE: Financial - No relevant financial relationship exists.

Erica Williams (POC,Primary Presenter,Author), ASU Speech and Hearing Clinic, ejw@asu.edu;
Erica J. Williams, Ph.D., is a Clinical Associate Professor in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University. She received her B.S in Speech and Hearing Science, M.S. in Communication Disorders, and Ph.D. in Speech and Hearing Science, all from Arizona State University. She teaches courses in auditory pathologies and vestibular evaluation, provides clinical supervision to Doctor of Audiology students, in addition to serving in other administrative roles. Dr. Williams is also involved in volunteer and humanitarian efforts locally and abroad.

ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - No relevant financial relationship exists. Nonfinancial - No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.

AAA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Receives support from Arizona State University.