Rural populations face distinctive challenges that may hinder their ability to access health services, including speech-language pathology and audiology. To address this, our speech-language pathology program partnered with local agencies and traveled to neighboring rural communities to provide speech and hearing services in central Pennsylvania for a minimal investment.
Mobile audiology outreach units are feasible in rural settings; clinics considering rural outreach programs can draw on the implementation lessons reported, but no specific clinical protocol changes are indicated.
Expanding mobile audiology services addresses a critical access gap for rural populations who are disproportionately affected by untreated hearing loss.
- 01A mobile unit delivered both speech-language pathology and audiology screening and education to rural communities.
- 02Field implementation lessons are shared, offering practical guidance for similar outreach programs.
- 03Rural populations face significant barriers to traditional clinic-based hearing and speech services.
- 04The model may serve as a replicable framework for underserved-area service delivery.
- 05No clinical outcomes or comparative efficacy data are reported; this is a descriptive implementation account.
A mobile health screening and education unit can feasibly deliver audiology and speech-language pathology services to rural populations.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42403327
- DOI
- 10.1353/hpu.2026.a994066.
- Journal
- Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 4
- Population
- Rural populations receiving mobile speech-language pathology and audiology screening
- Intervention
- Mobile health screening and education unit delivering audiology and SLP services
Primary outcomes
Feasibility and lessons learned from field implementation of mobile health unit