Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Adam Vasquez wears hearing protection while installing an AGM-84D Harpoon missile on a P-8A Poseidon aircraft at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy, Jan. 23, 2021. (Photo by: Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Austin Ingram)
Another initiative combatting hearing loss is the Comprehensive Hearing Health Program (CHHP), which involves three major components to reduce hearing loss: educate, protect, and monitor. The center and the services are deploying the multi-faceted program across the DOD to increase awareness about hearing loss prevention strategies and to influence healthy hearing behaviors in service members and their families, according to Schulz. Local implementation at audiology clinics includes providers' use of CHHP information materials to deliver standardized hearing health education, and hearing protection fittings during clinical and hearing conservation patient visits.
In 2019, the center received funding under the Joint Incentive Fund (JIF) to develop a DOD and Department of Veterans Affairs Hearing Technician Training and Certification Program, as a pilot effort to implement a hybrid/virtual training platform with the goal to standardize and ensure best practice care delivery across the continuum of service member to veteran status.
The program also ensures hearing technicians are trained to the nationally recognized standard of the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation (CAOHC). According to Schulz, the CAOHC recently approved the program, enabling it to continue as a model to train more than 5,000 hearing technicians across the DOD and VA. To date, 184 hearing health technicians have obtained training and certification through the pilot program.
"With more hearing technicians certified virtually, I believe this has created extra time for DOD and VA audiologists to focus on more complex audiology cases, which in turn is increasing access to care," said Schulz.
A new JIF initiative, set to launch in March 2021, involves an interventional audiology effort called the VA-DoD Boothless Audiometry Hearing Health Project. During the project, audiologists will integrate boothless hearing test equipment into three Air Force primary care clinics and two VA health care facilities that have tele-audiology capabilities.
Schulz explained the project focuses on key VA-DOD priorities, which are to increase access to care for service members and veterans, develop more capacity to match supply and demand, deliver quality care, and ensure patient safety through infection control by using low-touch/no touch audiology services.
"World Hearing Day makes us all take a pause to realize how fragile and important hearing health is in our daily lives, and I believe through these innovative programs, we're making strides to improve overall hearing health and care for our service members and veterans," said Schulz.