Sensory health across the life course: linking primary care, specialty services, and communities in the Americas

Sensory health is often discussed through the separate vocabularies of eye care and ear and hearing care. In much of the Americas, delivery reflects this separation: public, social-security, private, charitable, school, and campaign-based services operate alongside one another, while specialist eye and ear care are concentrated in urban centres. The mix differs by country, but fragmented financing and weak referral links commonly leave primary-care teams able to identify a problem without ensuring diagnosis, treatment, or rehabilitation.