Challenges in implementing newborn hearing detection and intervention in the Isolated, rural islands of the Pacific

The challenges, strategies, failures, and successes in implementing newborn hearing detection and intervention programs in the remote and rural Pacific Islands that are politically aligned with the United States will be presented. In spite of the challenges, social justice requires that the infants born with a significant hearing loss be given the same opportunities to develop language and communication skills as children born in more resource-rich communities. The presentation will provide a description of the geographical, cultural, socio-economic, and political challenges that confront efforts to provide state-of-the-art services in communities which lack the services of audiologists, otolaryngologists, speech-language personnel, and well-qualified educators of the deaf. Challenges exist at every point in the continuum of developing a comprehensive program--securing equipment, training screeners, ensuring diagnostic services, and providing early intervention services. Parent organizations are generally not available which complicates efforts to provide parent-to-parent support services. The audience will gain an appreciation of the commitment required by professionals to successfully collaborate in developing a system of "audiological justice" to enable families to learn to communicate with their deaf babies. The strategies and successes can hopefully be helpful to others seeking to implement similar services under challenging conditions.