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Review
. 2020 May;41(2):110-123.
doi: 10.1055/s-0040-1708508. Epub 2020 Apr 7.

Providing the Best Audiological Care and Creating Sustainability in Peru

Jennifer E Holst  1 , Gabriel A Bargen  2 , Corrie E Holmes  1
Affiliations
Review

Providing the Best Audiological Care and Creating Sustainability in Peru

Jennifer E Holst et al. Semin Hear. 2020 May.

Abstract

International humanitarian programs are one way for individuals within low-income countries to access hearing health care. Faculty and students from the Idaho State University (ISU) Audiology Program have traveled to several locations within less developed countries over the past 15 years. Most recently, the ISU Audiology Program has partnered with Idaho Condor Humanitarian to provide hearing health care services to Peruvian indigenous people. The humanitarian expedition provides medical, dental, and audiology services to rural villages surrounding Cusco, Peru. Each year the ISU Audiology team gathers data on the hearing health care needs of the Peruvian people and fits donated hearing aids. The ISU Audiology team navigates a variety of barriers associated with limited resources to provide quality hearing health care focused on best practice guidelines for the people of Peru. This article highlights the specific needs of the people served, which the team identified and prioritized, as well as initiated a plan for continuing to develop follow-up care and sustainability.

Keywords: Peru; best practice; hearing health care; humanitarian; sustainability.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Institutional support was provided by Idaho State University to the authors for travel to Uganda, Ecuador, and Peru during humanitarian expeditions discussed in the manuscript. No financial support was received for this research. No financial support was given by companies of the equipment and products listed in this manuscript. Nonfinancially, the authors are members of the Coalition for Global Hearing Health and two of the authors currently serve as active board members of Idaho Condor Humanitarian. Parts of this manuscript were presented during the 10th Annual Conference of the Coalition for Global Health Hearing.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pathologic conditions captured with a video otoscope during the 2019 medical expedition.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Types of tympanograms collected over a 2-year span, 2018–2019.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The changes in cerumen management provided during the medical expedition from 2016 to 2019.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Average hearing loss in the right and left ears ( n  = 107) from the 2019 medical expedition.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Average hearing loss in the right and left ears ( n  = 104) from the 2018 medical expedition.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The number of hearing aids fit during the medical expedition from 2017 to 2019.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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