Community-Based Hearing Rehabilitation: Implementation and Outcome Evaluation

Abstract

Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) is a program designed to support persons with disabilities living in remote and rural areas. CBR primarily aims to provide required rehabilitation services to financially deprived persons with disabilities living in communities with limited access to such services. Today, globally, many organizations adhere to this approach to serve the rehabilitation needs of various disabilities. Recently, the CBR approach has started gaining interest in the rehabilitation sector concerned with hearing disabilities. This paper provides a general framework for the implementation and outcome evaluation of community-based hearing rehabilitation (CBHR) programs. The entire process is discussed with support of an existing CBHR program in India implemented by a non-governmental organization (NGO), Audiology India (AI). In addition, the paper highlights several of the challenges involved in such work and also explores future directions for CBHR-based intervention programs.