Coyan Kathleen Costigan, Mormer Elaine
Audiology and Hearing Aids, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Semin Hear. 2020 May;41(2):124-132. doi: 10.1055/s-0040-1708509. Epub 2020 Apr 7.
Healthcare services in the United States are difficult to access for at least 10% of our population. Moreover, hearing healthcare services, including hearing aids, are largely inaccessible even for those individuals who may have health insurance and access to healthcare. Humanitarian audiology has been recognized as a means of supplying hearing services and devices to underserved populations around the globe. However, little has been publicized about humanitarian audiology projects taking place in local communities within the United States. This article describes one such project that has been in place in Pittsburgh, PA, for the past 4 years. This service results from collaboration across a collection of healthcare, community service, charitable, and educational organizations. The resources necessary to create similarly sourced services in other U.S. locations are described. Challenges and solutions for this local form of humanitarian audiology are discussed.
在美国，至少10%的人口难以获得医疗保健服务。此外，包括助听器在内的听力保健服务，即使对于那些拥有医疗保险且能获得医疗服务的人来说，在很大程度上也难以获得。人道主义听力学已被公认为是一种向全球服务不足人群提供听力服务和设备的方式。然而，关于美国当地社区开展的人道主义听力学项目，几乎没有公开的报道。本文介绍了一个过去4年一直在宾夕法尼亚州匹兹堡开展的此类项目。这项服务是医疗保健、社区服务、慈善和教育组织共同合作的成果。文中还描述了在美国其他地区创建类似来源服务所需的资源。讨论了这种当地形式的人道主义听力学所面临的挑战和解决方案。
