OUR SOLUTION

The Global Foundation For Children With Hearing Loss launched its Vietnam program in 2010. First focused on Ho Chi Minh City and the southern areas of the country, it later expanded to include the north and central regions, making our program a national effort.

We teach our multi-year training programs in Vietnam covering pediatric audiology, auditory-verbal practice, and early intervention for Vietnamese teachers, therapists, medical professionals, audiology technicians, and families who work with or have children with hearing loss. The participants attend our training for several years in a series of in-country workshops to build their knowledge over time. Online support is provided to the participants between in-country sessions. 

The Vietnamese not only are trained to help young children with hearing loss to listen and speak, but are prepared to train their peers and other families to make the benefits repeatable and sustainable. The GFCHL provides mentorship support to trainers. This approach ensures scale so that the program ultimately benefits an exponential number of children into the future.

Our efforts have brought together Vietnamese professionals representing different disciplines across hearing health care and early education throughout the country. As a result, relationships have formed between Vietnamese professionals working with young children with hearing loss in medical and educational settings. This professional network has enabled the Vietnamese to collaborate more effectively in the care of children with hearing loss and their families. As their knowledge has increased, the Vietnamese have sought our partnership and support to further develop and enhance local services for the children they serve.

In addition to training, we provide hearing technology to young children in need. The children and their families are then supported ongoing by the medical professionals, audiology technicians, teachers, and therapists we have trained. This ensures the children have locally-based resources they need to make full benefit of hearing technology to learn to listen and talk.

By transferring expertise, providing resources, and helping to build capacity across hearing health care and early intervention, the Vietnamese have become empowered to support their own children. The continuity of the Global Foundation For Children With Hearing Loss professional training team’s support and consultation over time has contributed to lasting positive change in Vietnam.