Service Delivery

• Global service delivery guidelines are considered outdated and define a model that requires significant technical expertise, equipment, and infrastructure, limiting scalability
• Clarity is needed in terms of: use of new audiology technologies; the scope of practice for different levels of providers; mechanisms for ongoing support related to batteries, rehabilitation and re-fitting; and the range of hearing aids that should be offered at different levels

Product Selection

• W.H.O. P.P.P. lacks specificity to clearly define a limited set of optimal products
• Global standards do not allow for differentiation of quality from non-quality products

Service Delivery

• A simplified model has the potential to standardise provision requirements at multiple levels and to resolve questions around the appropriate scope of practice for different hearing aid providers

Product Selection

• Lack of clear and comprehensive product quality standards prevents procurers from identifying supplies of affordable, quality products, increasing reliance on known quality suppliers that charge unaffordable prices and/or increasing procurement of lower cost products that are of low quality
• Effective quality protocols are being utilised by national hearing procurement programs that could provide a template for developing standards at a global level

• Develop and disseminate a “Preferred Service Delivery Profile” that is evidence-based, simplified, and task-shifted for provision of non-complex hearing aid services, using a consensus-based process, ideally driven by the W.H.O.. The profile should include considerations of the role of new types of audiometric equipment, the required range of hearing aids, appropriate standards and scope of practice for hearing aid technicians.

• Create selection guidance for procurement of optimal hearing aids by:

  • Providing additional detailed guidance to the current P.P.P. and A.P.S.;
  • Incorporating global quality standards;
  • Defining the limited set of products required and generating a list of quality basic products with associated price.
• Develop training modules for the simplified hearing aid service delivery model.
• Establish clear global quality protocols and processes that allow manufacturers to achieve accreditation.

• Guidelines on the use of technology and task-shifting approach in hearing aid service delivery in L.M.I.C.s
• Quality standards for hearing aids in low-resource settings

• Broad adoption of simplified service delivery models that are cheaper and more effective in addressing the unmet need with optimal hearing aids
• Clarity on quality hearing aids appropriate for procurement, which enhances market transparency between buyers, providers and suppliers