2026 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 15-17, 2026 • Jacksonville, FL
3/14/2022 | 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM | Barriers to and Facilitators of EHDI: Learning from our Past for a Better Future | Room 1
Barriers to and Facilitators of EHDI: Learning from our Past for a Better Future
Completion rates for infant newborn hearing screening in the United States have been consistently high since the inception of state-specific universal newborn hearing screening programs. Unfortunately, rates for diagnostic follow-up and early intervention (EI) enrollment continue to lag behind screening rates, despite approximately 20 years of program evolution in most states. This presentation will synthesize what we have learned from a meta-analysis spanning literature from 1990 to 2021 regarding barriers to loss-to-follow up at critical early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) time points. Specific barriers, including screening and diagnostic results interpretation, lack of monitoring for risk factors, limited access to quality diagnostic assessment and EI, under-reporting of diagnostic results, under-referral to EI services, and lack of primary care support will be highlighted along with sociodemographic factors that might contribute to loss-to-follow-up. Additionally, we will discuss factors that promote achieving the primary EHDI goals of timely hearing detection and intervention, including adhering to screening and diagnostic protocol standards, cross-disciplinary care coordination, parent-to-parent support, and multi-faceted outreach efforts. Implementing evidence-based facilitators of EHDI goals will promote timely and accurate diagnosis and timely enrollment in EI, which will in turn lead to optimal developmental outcomes in infants and children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing.
- Attendees will be able to identify barriers to timely early hearing detection and intervention.
- Attendees will be able to discuss successful facilitators of timely diagnosis and early intervention enrollment.
- Attendees will be able to implement evidence-based quality improvement measures in their own programs to facilitate EHDI.
Presentation:
3353554_14942UrsulaFindlen.pdf
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Ursula Findlen
(Primary Presenter), Nationwide Children's Hospital, ursula.findlen@nationwidechildrens.org;
Ursula M. Findlen, Ph.D., is the Director of Audiology Research in the Division of Clinical Therapies- Audiology Department at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and an Assistant Professor-Clinical at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery. Dr. Findlen engages in clinical practice and research endeavors related to pediatric (re)habilitative audiology, particularly in regards to a multidisciplinary team approach to family-centered care. Her research interests include infant diagnostics and improving outcomes of children with hearing loss through systematic quality improvement and population health endeavors.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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AAA DISCLOSURE:
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Carrie Davenport
(Co-Author), Building Bridges Consulting, LLC, carrietdavenport@gmail.com;
Carrie Davenport, Ph.D. recently founded Building Bridges Consulting, LLC, a company focused on creating connections across fields, disciplines, and the people that touch the lives of children who are deaf/hard-of-hearing (D/HH) and their families. Prior, she was a postdoctoral research scholar in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery at the Wexner Medical Center. She has a doctorate in Special Education from The Ohio State University and master’s degree in Family-Centered Early Education from Gallaudet University. She completed the Educational Consultant Training Program in cochlear implants at the California Ear Institute. She was a teacher of the deaf in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and the Early Childhood Consultant for the Center for Outreach Services at the Ohio School for the Deaf. She co-founded Ohio Hands & Voices and a statewide community collaborative, Children’s Hearing and Language Development Resource Network [CHLDRN] of Ohio. Her research centers on early parent-child interaction and language development in deaf/hard-of-hearing children and parental self-efficacy. She is particularly interested in using a community-based participatory research approach to addressing the needs of D/HH children and their families.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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No relevant financial relationship exists.
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No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
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No relevant financial relationship exists.
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No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Derek Houston
(Author,Co-Author), University of Connecticut, derek.houston@uconn.edu;
Derek M. Houston, PhD, received his doctorate in cognitive psychology from Johns Hopkins University in 2000, focusing on how typically developing infants segment words from fluent speech and recognize words across different talkers. After graduating, he constructed the world's first laboratory to investigate the speech perception and language skills of deaf infants who receive cochlear implants at Indiana University. Since then, his work (supported by NIDCD) has investigated the role of early auditory experience and parent-child interactions on cognitive, linguistic, and social building blocks of language development. He also engages in community-based participatory research aimed at addressing barriers families face in obtaining high-quality early intervention services for their children.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
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No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Rachael Frush Holt
(Co-Author), The Ohio State University – Department of Speech and Hearing Science, holt.339@osu.edu;
Rachael Frush Holt, Ph.D. is Professor of Speech and Hearing Science at the Ohio State University. Her research focuses on the development of spoken language in children, including those who are deaf and hard-of-hearing. Her primary focus is on the role that environmental factors, such as the child’s family, play in spoken language and executive function outcomes in deaf and hard-of-hearing children with sensory aids.
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Lisa Hunter
(Co-Author), Cincinnati Children's Hospital, lisa.hunter@cchmc.org;
Lisa Hunter is Scientific Director of Audiology and Professor at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati. She collaborates on a number of funded studies including evaluating physiologic factors associated with risks for hearing loss and understanding mechanisms for improved follow-up with newborn hearing screening in high risk famlies. She is a faculty with the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
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