Starkey Hearing Institute Graduates Fourth Class of Hearing Care Professionals
Graduates will provide much-needed hearing healthcare services throughout Africa
Dec 05, 2019, 08:30 ET
LUSAKA, Zambia, Dec. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Starkey Hearing Foundation, a Minnesota-based nonprofit organization committed to making hearing healthcare services more accessible in the U.S. and throughout the world, is celebrating the graduation of 11 hearing healthcare professionals from the Starkey Hearing Institute in Lusaka, Zambia. The graduates will help address the dire shortage of hearing healthcare professionals in the developing world.
The graduates represent five countries from around Africa. They have studied and been trained in professional ear and hearing health, including Starkey Hearing Foundation's WFA® Community-Based Hearing HealthCare Program and WHO Primary Ear and Hearing Care courses, as well as the Public Health Approach for District Level Ear and Hearing Health course developed by The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Graduates will now return to their communities to provide desperately-needed hearing healthcare services for people throughout Africa.
"Approximately 900,000 Zambians currently do not have hearing healthcare," says Dr. Alfred Mwamba, Au.D., Executive Director, Starkey Hearing Institute. "Our graduates have worked very hard to achieve the education and training they need to return to their home communities to help more people with hearing loss."
Starkey Hearing Institute opened in 2016 to help meet the growing need for more hearing healthcare professionals in Africa. The Institute provides full-year, accredited, professional ear and hearing health education, including hands-on training in direct care delivery.
"The need for hearing healthcare in developing countries is immense," says Starkey Hearing Foundation Co-Founder, Tani Austin. "Starkey Hearing Institute graduates have the potential to change the lives of millions of people by empowering them to reach their full potential through the gift of hearing."
Starkey Hearing Foundation has a goal of educating and training 300 community-based hearing healthcare professionals at the Institute by 2030. To date, 41 students from 15 countries throughout Africa have graduated from the Institute.
About Starkey Hearing Foundation:
Founded on the vision of William F. Austin, "So the World May Hear," Starkey Hearing Foundation has been tirelessly working to bring the gift of hearing to people in the U.S. and around the world. Their global advocacy and impact on hearing loss is unmatched, and since 1984, they have provided free hearing aids and other hearing healthcare services in more than 100 countries. They train local partners and health workers in other countries to provide simple, sustainable and scalable care for the patients they serve. They partner with universities and have started the Starkey Hearing Institute to educate future hearing care professionals in developing countries. Starkey Hearing Foundation also helps governments and public health officials create their own country-specific national hearing health plans. Learn more at www.starkeyhearingfoundation.org.
Media Contact: Nicole Dressen
Phone Number: 952-918-5677
Email: [email protected]
starkeyhearingfoundation.org
SOURCE Starkey Hearing Foundation
