Hearing Aid: Arizona State Group to Walk 5k to Support African Health

Newswise — Faculty and students from Arizona State University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will help give the gift of hearing to people in Malawi, Africa, this summer, with the help of the “AZ Walk to Silence Tinnitus” 5K sponsored by the American Tinnitus Association on March 24. ASU’s 5K team, “Hearing for Humanity,” will help raise funds to support travel, supplies and equipment for use in Africa. The effort has been spearheaded by the Hearing for Humanity project at ASU, a humanitarian audiology group founded by Ingrid McBride. McBride, a clinical associate professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences and the director of the audiology program in ASU’s Speech and Hearing Clinic, will take a group of audiologists and doctor of audiology students to schools for the deaf, medical clinics, villages and orphanages to provide humanitarian audiology services. The incidence of significant and permanent hearing loss in sub-Saharan Africa due to malaria, measles, meningitis, otitis media, ototoxicity and other preventable causes is staggering, says McBride. World Health Organization reports suggest that more than 51,000 children, age four and under, die in developing countries due to complications related to ear infections, annually. Even more confounding, the majority of cases of hearing loss go untreated, due a lack of audiologic services and training, she says. McBride created the Hearing for Humanity program at ASU to help address these hearing health care needs. The trip to Malawi is not McBride’s first venture in Africa. In 2010, the ASU group, which also included Nicole Corbin, Kristi Peterson, Armi Cagingin, and Chastity Moore – all ASU audiology doctoral students – treated more than 500 people, often in very challenging environments. Hoping to promote sustainable solutions for the region, Hearing for Humanity also provided hands-on training and education to teachers, staff and technicians about hearing health care and amplification. Local professionals in Kenya and Malawi were taught how to assess hearing, clean ears, test hearing aids for proper function, take ear impressions, make instant earmolds and fit hearing aids. “Aside from being the trip of a lifetime and gaining valuable clinical experience, our students witnessed firsthand the impact of hearing loss, limited services and dire need for education, prevention and treatment of hearing loss in developing countries,” McBride says. Corbin describes her experience: “While in Africa, we worked hand-in-hand with teachers and staff to develop the scaffolds for a sustainable project. The people with whom we worked were so warm, welcoming and genuinely invested in our project, and were very eager and quick to learn. This invaluable experience shaped my worldview as a student clinician and a young female adult.” During this coming summer’s mission, McBride will return with three doctor of audiology students, Courtney Caron, Laura Chenier, and Naomi Hixson, as well as an ASU alumnus, Amy Ariss, who is a practicing audiologist in the Phoenix Metro area. The group will directly provide services and participate in the development of audiology clinics and audiology technician training programs. “Hearing for Humanity is gaining national and international attention and audiologists from the United States and in other countries have expressed an interest in joining our efforts in sub-Saharan Africa,” notes McBride. Anyone who joins the Hearing for Humanity 5K team for the March 24 walk will support their 2012 mission. You can, from the comfort of an easy chair, also register as a “virtual walker” and support the team. “The American Tinnitus Association has generously agreed to contribute any funds raised by those who join our team to Hearing for Humanity to help us accomplish our goals in Malawi this summer,” says McBride. The 5K walk starts at 8 a.m. on Market Street at DC Ranch, on the corner of Thompson Peak Parkway and Pima Road in Scottsdale, Arizona. The American Tinnitus Association is a nonprofit organization which seeks to find a cure for tinnitus through funding research and proving information and services to patients living with tinnitus. Much of the funding allocated to research sponsored by the association is provided by donations. To register, visit http://azwalk.ata.org/registration and select “Hearing for Humanity” from the team drop-down list. To learn more about Hearing for Humanity: http://www.hearingforhumanity.org/ https://asunews.asu.edu/20120313_gallery_hearing_aid