Students might see a new addition to campus this semester rolling down University Boulevard.

The Hear Here Alabama truck is a new initiative led by Dr. Marcia Hay-McCutcheon, associate professor of communicative disorders. The truck will travel to rural areas of Alabama to provide free hearing tests.

“There is poverty in specific counties of Alabama. And so, my goal is to target those counties where there could be a greater incidence of hearing loss because they don’t have access to hearing healthcare,” Hay-McCutcheon said.

The large red and white truck can be found at the Speech and Hearing Center on campus. On board the truck is a variety of equipment used in diagnosing specific hearing issues. There are two sound booths that help identify the problems.

Currently, Hay-McCutcheon is working on getting her commercial driver’s license to drive the truck. With her at the helm, and a team of 13 students to help, they will travel across the state to provide healthcare services in several counties.

“It’s just really exciting being a part of this project that has the potential to help so many people who need help and don’t realize it or don’t have access to it,” Hay-McCutcheon said.

Hay-McCutcheon and others who have been working with Hear Here Alabama have also been looking at factors associated with hearing loss. In a pilot study of 300 people from Tuscaloosa, Pickens, Greene, Bibb and Fayette counties, hearing loss was linked to poorer social interaction and physical well-being of the person. It was also noted that higher education was associated with better hearing.

Katerina Puzinauskas, a graduate student for speech pathology, has been helping Hay-McCutcheon for over a year now, and she helped with the pilot study.

“I think that hearing is one of the senses that often is overlooked,” Puzinauskas said. “Hearing loss often happens gradually, and you aren’t quite aware of how it is affecting you. And so this program is reaching out to the people who otherwise couldn’t afford or travel to an audiologist to have their hearing tested.”

The truck will make its maiden voyage once Hay-McCutcheon gets her license.