There is a high prevalence of hearing impairment in rural areas, with substantial impairments appearing in adolescence and early adulthood. Adolescents who work on farms or in agribusiness are at a much greater risk of hearing impairment than their peers. Training hearing protection habits is needed before the onset of hearing impairment, and school systems represent a logical place to address this need. This project will develop and evaluate two hearing conservation programs, one for fourth graders and one for seventh graders. The fourth grade program will include hearing tests and an educational program designed to provide knowledge about auditory anatomy and physiology, knowledge about risk factors for hearing damage, instruction in avoiding hearing damage, and signs of hearing damage. The seventh grade program will consist of hearing tests, education programs, hearing protection device use, display of the sound levels produced by various sound producers (farm equipment, shop equipment, etc.) and a simple procedure to monitor their daily exposure to hearing damage. The seventh grade program incorporates components of the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Self Efficacy.
