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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health Information Hub

 

Rural Project Examples: Hearing impairment

Effective Examples

funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy funded by the Health Resources Services Administration New Mexico Mobile Screening Program for Miners
Updated/reviewed December 2022
  • Need: To increase access to medical screening for miners in New Mexico.
  • Intervention: A mobile screening clinic with telemedicine capability screens miners for respiratory and other conditions.
  • Results: In a survey, 92% of miners reported their care as very good, while the other 8% reported it as good. The program has expanded to three other states.
HEAR on the Farm
Updated/reviewed November 2022
  • Need: To increase use of hearing protection among farmers and farmworkers.
  • Intervention: Researchers mailed an assortment of hearing protection devices to farmers and provided web-based information (interactive or static) about hearing conservation to see which method or combination of methods was most effective.
  • Results: All participants increased their use of hearing protection. The largest increase occurred among those who received a sampler of hearing protection devices in the mail.

Promising Examples

Tomah Hearing Loss Prevention Outreach
Updated/reviewed November 2022
  • Need: Farmers are highly susceptible to permanent hearing loss due to prolonged exposure to loud machinery and livestock.
  • Intervention: Faculty and students from the audiology department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison supplied earplugs, free hearing testing, and hearing loss prevention education to attendees and participants at a local tractor pull.
  • Results: More than 16,000 pairs of earplugs have been distributed, and attendees have been receptive to the hearing loss prevention education provided by the audiology team.