Volume 31, Issue 2, December 2020, Pages 223–238
Louis Mbibeh1, Lynn Cockburn2, and Awa Jacques Chirac3
1 University of Bamenda, North West Region, Cameroon
2 Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
3 SEEPD Program, Baptist Convention Health Services, Bamenda, North West Region, Cameroon
Original language: English
Copyright © 2020 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The Sustainable Development Goals focus on promoting the wellbeing and health of everyone, including persons with hearing impairments, estimated at 466 million globally. Service provision is needed for these goals to be realized. This paper presents a situational analysis of ear and hearing care services in the Northwest Region of Cameroon, to contribute to the development of improved services. The paper provides a baseline overview of what is known about ear and hearing care, including a context analysis, suggestions on realistic targets for change, and recommendations for further work, policy development, and research. The World Health Organization Ear and Hearing Care Situational Analysis Tool for data collection and analysis was used to collect data from a cross section of respondents including providers and beneficiaries of services. Results indicate that there is a severe shortage of ear and hearing services, limited accessibility to medical products and health technologies, no training avenues locally available and no clear strategy to identify and address components and gaps. The study recommends an urgent need for the design of a 5-year strategic plan to address the gaps which should include strong representation from the deaf and hearing-impaired communities. This plan should ensure that every hospital and health center has a clear process for assessing clients of all ages for hearing impairments and that processes facilitating the acquisition of hearing care technologies are established. More broadly Information on hearing care needs to be shared in the mainstream and the deaf communities.
Author Keywords: Hearing, Deafness, Hearing Loss, Hearing care, Hearing Impairment, Ear Diseases, Health Surveys, Situational Analysis.
Louis Mbibeh1, Lynn Cockburn2, and Awa Jacques Chirac3
1 University of Bamenda, North West Region, Cameroon
2 Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
3 SEEPD Program, Baptist Convention Health Services, Bamenda, North West Region, Cameroon
Original language: English
Copyright © 2020 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
The Sustainable Development Goals focus on promoting the wellbeing and health of everyone, including persons with hearing impairments, estimated at 466 million globally. Service provision is needed for these goals to be realized. This paper presents a situational analysis of ear and hearing care services in the Northwest Region of Cameroon, to contribute to the development of improved services. The paper provides a baseline overview of what is known about ear and hearing care, including a context analysis, suggestions on realistic targets for change, and recommendations for further work, policy development, and research. The World Health Organization Ear and Hearing Care Situational Analysis Tool for data collection and analysis was used to collect data from a cross section of respondents including providers and beneficiaries of services. Results indicate that there is a severe shortage of ear and hearing services, limited accessibility to medical products and health technologies, no training avenues locally available and no clear strategy to identify and address components and gaps. The study recommends an urgent need for the design of a 5-year strategic plan to address the gaps which should include strong representation from the deaf and hearing-impaired communities. This plan should ensure that every hospital and health center has a clear process for assessing clients of all ages for hearing impairments and that processes facilitating the acquisition of hearing care technologies are established. More broadly Information on hearing care needs to be shared in the mainstream and the deaf communities.
Author Keywords: Hearing, Deafness, Hearing Loss, Hearing care, Hearing Impairment, Ear Diseases, Health Surveys, Situational Analysis.
How to Cite this Article
Louis Mbibeh, Lynn Cockburn, and Awa Jacques Chirac, “A situational analysis of ear and hearing care in the northwest region of Cameroon,” International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 223–238, December 2020.
