Promoting hearing loss prevention in audiology practice

Details

• Personal Author:
  Byrne, David C. ; Meinke, Deanna K. ; Morata, Thais C. ; Stephenson, Mark R. ; Themann, Christa L.
• Description:
  An audiologist should be the principal provider and advocate for all hearing loss prevention activities. Many audiologists equate hearing loss prevention with industrial audiology and occupational hearing conservation programs. However, an audiologist's involvement in hearing loss prevention should not be confined to that one particular practice setting. In addition to supervising occupational programs, audiologists are uniquely qualified to raise awareness of hearing risks, organize public health campaigns, promote healthy hearing, implement intervention programs, and monitor outcomes. For example, clinical audiologists can show clients how to use inexpensive sound level meters, noise dosimeters, or phone apps to measure noise levels, and recommend appropriate hearing protection. Audiologists should identify community events that may involve hazardous exposures and propose strategies to minimize risks to hearing. Audiologists can help shape the knowledge, beliefs, motivations, attitudes, and behaviors of individuals toward self-protection. An audiologist has the education, tools, opportunity, and strategic position to facilitate or promote hearing loss surveillance and prevention services and activities. This article highlights real-world examples of the various roles and substantial contributions audiologists can make toward hearing loss prevention goals. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Hearing Hearing Loss Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Public Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Hearing-conservation Hearing-disorders Hearing-impairment Hearing-loss Hearing-protection Noise-induced-hearing-loss Public-health
• ISSN:
  2162-7800
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 8
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  3-19
• Volume:
  13
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20041970
• Citation:
  Perspect Public Health Issues Relat Hear Balance 2012 Dec; 13(1):3-19
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction ; Manufacturing
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Perspectives on Public Health Issues Related to Hearing and Balance
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:46fafde3fe79fb3a3e64625eee63046f4f539f4a26a0f88d1c5ce388d79a99925d6cdde03342ecdbac703197f652154c67b0f93fa316bf2249b8273bba44f0dc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/194358/cdc_194358_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 404.70 KB ]