Kenya
OPPORTUNITY
Gaps in the Continuum of Care for babies and young children with hearing loss persist in Kenya due to low awareness, delayed diagnosis, and limited expertise and services—most of which are centralized in Nairobi, leaving families living outside the capital underserved.
OUR SOLUTION
The Kenya government approved its new National Ear and Hearing Care Strategy in 2023. Among key priorities are to establish newborn hearing screening, expand financial coverage to hearing technology (hearing aids, cochlear implants), increase professional expertise, and develop services to address pediatric hearing loss.
In 2024, the Global Foundation For Children With Hearing Loss began partnerships with the University of Nairobi and other local partners throughout Kenya to achieve these aims. Together, we are helping more babies and young children with hearing loss in Kenya successfully achieve listening and spoken language outcomes.
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMS
The GFCHL team of professionals is teaching the GFCHL’s proprietary training programs in Auditory-Verbal Therapy and Pediatric Audiology in Kenya in collaboration with the University of Nairobi.
Our curriculum is designed to develop local expertise to help babies and young children with hearing aids and cochlear implants learn to listen and speak. There are few professionals in Kenya with the skills to provide such specialized care.
Our training program is unique in its intensive nature, duration, and format. Cohorts of Kenyan audiologists, speech therapists, teachers, and other providers from several counties (states) commit to a series of scaffolding 2-week workshops taught in Kenya over two years. Online learning progresses their development between in-country training workshops.
Each in-country workshop introduces new modules that build on the learning from the previous session. We combine theory with practicum with children and their parents/caregivers so the cohort can apply what they are learning while receiving coaching support from the GFCHL professional team.
The Kenyan participants who complete the GFCHL training curriculum receive certificates from the University of Nairobi and the GFCHL. They are prepared to serve babies and young children with hearing loss who live in their respective counties and to train others in the country to make the benefits exponential and sustainable.
We also offer evening seminars for parents/caregivers so they can learn how to help their children develop listening and spoken language at home.
Please enjoy this video to learn more:
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
We have spent a great deal of time in Kenya developing personal relationships with families, caregivers, and the professionals who serve them, learning about the landscape of care, and advancing the GFCHL’s connections with various local organizations.
We recognize a need to raise awareness for pediatric hearing loss in the communities around Kenya and to bring the GFCHL’s expertise to additional groups. These 1 minute video clips featuring local Kenyans touch on some of the issues:
In response, the GFCHL is working with local partners in three regions of Kenya to conduct outreach programs about pediatric hearing loss and the interventions available today. We stress urgency for early identification and timely treatment of hearing loss in babies and young children. We help to reduce stigma associated with the condition. We provide seminars and education sessions for expecting parents, family members, mainstream teachers, pediatricians, other health providers, and the community at large.
PEDIATRIC HEARING SCREENING
The GFCHL has also committed resources and technical expertise to establish pediatric hearing screening and diagnosis in Kenya. Thus far, our efforts have enabled such services for newborns, infants, and young children at health facilities in two counties.
With proactive screening, the average age of identification of hearing loss will drop. A corresponding demand for hearing technology and habilitation services to support this pediatric population is expected. The GFCHL’s training programs and outreach efforts help address this by providing Kenyan professionals and caregivers, particularly those outside of Nairobi, with the necessary tools and knowledge they will need to respond.
This video provides a look into our hearing screening and outreach efforts.
OUR IMPACT
Since 2024, we have achieved the following:
- Designed and implemented referral processes with local health partners to enable pediatric hearing screening at hospitals in two counties for the first time. Funded screening equipment and training to launch the initiative.
- Completed outreach activities to raise awareness for pediatric hearing loss, the importance of timely identification, and the interventions available today to address it with hundreds of participants across six counties: education and medical professionals, community health workers, government officials, parents, community members, students.
- Supplied and fit new hearing aids on young children in need who are supported ongoing by Kenyans we have trained.
- The first cohort of Kenyan professionals graduated from the GFCHL’s two-year professional training program in Auditory-Verbal Therapy. They are working with babies and young children with hearing technology in five counties of Kenya.
The end goal we share with our Kenyan partners is that pediatric ear and hearing care services will be fully integrated into the Kenya health care system. Families throughout Kenya should be able to access the trained professionals and complete Continuum of Care in their local communities that they need to help their babies and young children to listen, speak, and thrive.
We invite you to enjoy this special podcast that talks about our work and our partnership with Kenya Connect to extend our message into the rural communities. It features insights from the GFCHL professional team and local perspectives from Kenyan health and education providers.