2024 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 17-19, 2024 • Denver, CO
| An Evaluation of Newborn Hearing Screening Brochures and Parental Understanding of Screening Result Terminology
An Evaluation of Newborn Hearing Screening Brochures and Parental Understanding of Screening Result Terminology
Early identification and intervention for childhood hearing loss has been a priority of public health stakeholders for several decades. Despite the substantial benefits of newborn hearing screening programs, approximately 37% of those who do not pass their screening are lost to follow up or lost to documentation One factor that might contribute to the loss-to-follow-up rate is the suitability of the information communicated to families whose newborns have been screened. Health communication is a specific focus of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy People 2020 campaign; specifically, their goal of using communication strategies that will “improve population health outcomes and health care quality, and to achieve health equity.” The focus of this study was to understand the accessibility of communication in newborn hearing screening programs, including the suitability of brochures delivered to parents during or immediately after hearing screenings and parental understanding of common result terminology. The first part of this study evaluated state brochures developed for newborn hearing screening programs on readability, design, picture appropriateness, and use of the word “refer”. The second part of this study evaluated parent understanding and self-perceived anxiety related to three commonly used newborn hearing screening outcomes (“refer,” “did not pass,” and “pass”). Results revealed that most of the brochures were deficient in at least one element, most commonly readability scores above a 6th grade reading level. In addition, 30% of brochures used the word “refer” to describe a hearing screening failure; yet, the study found that fewer than half of the participants understood the meaning of the word refer. Based on these results, it is recommended that EHDI programs consider reviewing and potentially modifying their brochures and using discretion in use of the term “refer” when indicating when a baby does not pass a screening.
- Identify areas for improvement in newborn hearing screening parent information brochures.
- Describe possible effects of newborn hearing screening brochure design and language on parental understanding of results and parental anxiety.
- Describe the effects of common screening terminology (i.e., pass, did not pass, and refer) on parental understanding of results and parental anxiety.
Presentation:
3353554_14957SarahMcAlexander.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3q4AC6y_8M
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Sarah McAlexander
(Primary Presenter), Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, sarah.n.mcalexander@gmail.com;
Sarah McAlexander, AuD, CCC-A is a clinical audiologist with the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at UT Physicians, a part of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She earned her Doctorate of Audiology from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 2021 and her Bachelor of Science in disability studies and child studies from Vanderbilt University in 2017. Dr. McAlexander is a member of the American Academy of Audiology (AAA), American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), and Texas Academy of Audiology (TAA). She currently volunteers for AAA as a member of the New Professionals Committee. Her primary interests including pediatrics, early intervention and identification, auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing, and cochlear implants.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -