Accelerator Use Case
AI-enabled WhatsApp services extending hearing care and prevention into communities
Type:
Social enterprise
Program:
Turn.io Accelerator
Focus:
Hearing support
Location:
South Africa
hearX Foundation is focused on preventing and addressing hearing difficulties that affect children’s learning and development:
one in ten young children in South Africa experiences undetected hearing issues that impact speech, language, and education. The organisation translates digital hearing technology into practical and accessible tools. As part of the accelerator, they built and launched two AI-enabled WhatsApp services that extend hearing care and prevention into community settings.
Specifically, hearX developed an AI-powered Hearing Coach on WhatsApp to support new hearing aid users after their first clinic fitting and during the period of adapting to using their hearing aid. The service provides voice notes and text guidance, onboarding support in local languages, personalised reminders, and practical usage tips. Users can access help on demand and are escalated to human support when needed, reducing unnecessary clinic visits and improving device adoption.
Specifically, hearX developed an AI-powered Hearing Coach on WhatsApp to support new hearing aid users after their first clinic fitting and during the period of adapting to using their hearing aid. The service provides voice notes and text guidance, onboarding support in local languages, personalised reminders, and practical usage tips. Users can access help on demand and are escalated to human support when needed, reducing unnecessary clinic visits and improving device adoption.
Impact
1 in 10
Children
10K
Teachers trained
4.5M
Children per year
Demo:
Watch hearX Foundation in action
In parallel, hearX built an automated AI-enabled teacher training service on WhatsApp for early identification and prevention of childhood hearing difficulties.
The training equips teachers to recognise signs early, guide families to care, and support learners in classrooms.
A pilot study with 2500 teachers validated the efficiency of WhatsApp-based training for community-based and showed strong knowledge gains.
A pilot study with 2500 teachers validated the efficiency of WhatsApp-based training for community-based and showed strong knowledge gains.
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Chat and AI shifted delivery from small, staff-led sessions to large-scale, simultaneous training with 24/7 automated support.
The team integrated analytics through BigQuery to track engagement and outcomes and adopted user-centred design to refine flows for scale.
Next steps include scaling through education and community partnerships, expanding the Hearing Coach to more hearing aid users, extending training to caregivers and community health workers, and growing into additional countries, starting in Africa and Brazil. The initial scale target is 150,000 teachers, reaching an estimated 4.5 million children each year.
The team integrated analytics through BigQuery to track engagement and outcomes and adopted user-centred design to refine flows for scale.
Next steps include scaling through education and community partnerships, expanding the Hearing Coach to more hearing aid users, extending training to caregivers and community health workers, and growing into additional countries, starting in Africa and Brazil. The initial scale target is 150,000 teachers, reaching an estimated 4.5 million children each year.
LLM Models
used
Chat GPT 4.1 Mini
AI
Built through the Chat for Impact Accelerator
This project was developed through the Chat for Impact Accelerator, a global programme supporting organisations to design, test, and scale impactful conversational services on WhatsApp.
Through the programme, teams work closely with product and technical experts to prototype, launch, and iterate on AI-powered chat solutions that expand access to health, education, and essential services for communities around the world.
Through the programme, teams work closely with product and technical experts to prototype, launch, and iterate on AI-powered chat solutions that expand access to health, education, and essential services for communities around the world.
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