AUB-7114 Global Audiology Care & Tele-Audiology
The goal of this course is to provide international students with a clear understanding of the delivery of audiology services via tele-health, now referred to as “tele-audiology”. The course begins with a discussion of tele-health in general. This is followed with a description of teleaudiology principles, terminology, and service delivery models including asynchronous (store and-forward) and synchronous (online or real time) paradigms. The substantial literature on teleaudiology is reviewed with an emphasis on validation studies for a wide range of hearing health care services ranging from identification and diagnosis of hearing loss and related disorders (e.g., tinnitus and vestibular/balance disorders) to rehabilitation services. Much of the course incudes practical information about how to apply tele-audiology in clinical practice, including equipment and personnel requirements, billing issues, as well as current options for “low” or “no touch” options for remote delivery of audiological care. The final portion of the course focuses on global audiology issues, among them the burden of hearing loss in the world, inadequacy of audiology resources world-wide, and sustainable solutions to hearing health care delivery in developing countries, such as social entrepreneurship.