Objective: Hearing Loss (HL) and its broad connection with bodily health and contextual (personal, environmental) factors can have a complex impact on an individual's daily functioning and communication and conversation capability across the globe; yet the instrument that can be used as a global standard to uncover the complex impact is currently lacking. To fulfill this need, a team of experts from Germany, the United States, and the Netherlands was collaborated and developed a new

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... e (named HEAL-COMMAND Tool) by transferring the concept of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) Core Sets for HL into a theory-supported, practically manageable concept for rehabilitative audiology. The objective of this paper is to report on the development procedure of the HEAL-COMMAND Tool, the English version, aimed to improve the execution of the audiological services, treatment, and rehabilitation for HL patients. The beta-version was developed in two languages, German and English. Validation studies are ongoing, and the tool might be revised based on the validation results in both languages. This would be reported in a separate paper. Design: Three out of four ICF domains; "Body Functions", "Activities and Participation", and "Environmental Factors" were used in the design of the tool. The "Body Structures" is the only domain that is excluded from this tool. The design procedure included five steps; 1. The ICF categories which were found to be essential to evaluate HL, the communication, and conversation disability were selected. 2. For each category, one or more items were created, either newly developed or adopted, with or without modification, from 15 hearing and health questionnaires. 3. The development team suggested revisions to the initial version and the questionnaire was altered, accordingly. This feedback loop of corrections was repeated five times. 4. Harmonized question format and response options were formulated [...]