19th ANNUAL EARLY HEARING DETECTION & INTERVENTION MEETING
March 8-10, 2020 • Kansas City, MO
Loss to Follow-Up: Providing Information to Keep Children from Slipping Through the Cracks
According to the World Health Organization, approximately 7.5 million children in the world have a disabling hearing loss. In the absence of timely intervention, these children may experience lifelong difficulties in speech and language, and potential complications in educational and vocational achievements. The implementation of Universal Newborn Hearing Screening has enabled early identification of infants with congenital hearing loss. However, follow-up of infants who have failed the initial screening; or those who may have passed, but have a risk factor for developing delayed-onset hearing loss, is critical for timely intervention. The Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH) recommends a follow-up rate of more than 95% of infants, but a 70% benchmark has been reported as more feasible. Therefore, a major challenge reported by healthcare providers is the high loss to follow-up rate. A systematic review by Ravi et al. (2016) identified educational disparity and lack of adequate knowledge among parents were associated with loss to follow-up. This project seeks to determine if providing parents with more accessible information during appointments can help to increase follow-up rates. Parents coming into the clinic for a follow-up newborn hearing screening appointment will be provided with an informational brochure on hearing screening, hearing loss, and language milestones. Parents will complete a questionnaire prior to the appointment that asks five questions involving knowledge of hearing loss, speech and language development, and if they understand the reason for the follow-up visit. Following the appointment, parents will complete the same questionnaire to determine if understanding of the importance of follow-up has increased, particularly if their child has a risk factor for hearing loss. During this presentation, we will discuss the potential benefit of these materials and how they can be implemented in clinical practice. Poster attendees will also receive access to informational materials in English and Spanish.
- Determine if providing families with more accessible information during appointments increases follow-up rates.
- Determine if information is retained by families during appointments and if they find this information helpful.
- Provide clinicians with possible tools to implement during appointments to provide more accessible information to families.
Poster:
21060_12753ElizabethPancoast.pdf
Presenter: Elizabeth Pancoast
Liz Pancoast is an Au.D. extern at Denver Health. She enjoys working with patients of all ages, but has a particular interest in the pediatric population. She is excited to currently be part of the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities program through JFK Partners.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.