Smartphone hearing care delivered by community health workers
Mobile technologies for delivering hearing care through community health workers
This project provides a smartphone app plus hearing aids, delivered by community health workers, to quickly test and improve hearing for children and families in underserved communities.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Cincinnati Childrens Hosp Med Ctr NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Cincinnati, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11393256 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would meet with a trained community health worker who uses a smartphone app to run quick hearing tests, take a brief video ear exam, and check speech-in-noise understanding. If hearing loss is found, the worker fits and programs affordable hearing aids so you can notice better communication often within a single 15-minute session. After fitting, you get ongoing mHealth messages and CHW support for troubleshooting and follow-up. The team is validating the approach in clinic visits in Cincinnati and testing it in low-income South African communities.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are children and family members in low-income or underserved communities who have difficulty hearing or communicating, especially at the Cincinnati or participating South African sites.
Not a fit: People without hearing loss, those whose ear problems require specialist medical or surgical care (for example active ear infections or candidates for cochlear implants), or those not near the trial locations may not benefit from this program.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could give people in underserved areas fast, affordable access to hearing testing, same-day hearing-aid fitting, and continued remote support.
How similar studies have performed: Prior work suggests smartphone audiometry and community-delivered hearing services can be accurate and helpful, but this full end-to-end smartphone programming plus mHealth support model is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
Cincinnati, United States
- Cincinnati Childrens Hosp Med Ctr — Cincinnati, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Nagaraj, Naveen K — Cincinnati Childrens Hosp Med Ctr
- Study coordinator: Nagaraj, Naveen K
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.