2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference
March 13 - 15, 2022
Surveying Families on Their Experiences from Screening to Diagnosis and Beyond: A Quality Improvement Activity
The State of Alaska Early Hearing Detection program contracted with the University of Alaska Center for Human Development a phone survey of parents. To better understand referral patterns, barriers and facilitators to follow-up, and experience and satisfaction with treatment and early interventions options, a survey of parents whose infants did not pass their first hearing screening was conducted over three years. In the 2021 survey, additional questions about access to services during the pandemic, including the use of telehealth, were added to better understand the impact COVID restrictions had on receiving care.
Five research questions guided survey development. Survey results indicated that of those parents who received a referral to an audiologist, most made appointments. However, for those parents who did not make appointments, they had various reasons for not following up including they didn’t think their infant needed to go, they didn’t have time to attend, or they could not afford the travel time Finally, most parents felt that they knew which professional to talk to about their child’s condition.
In addition, survey results painted a picture of how parents were accessing services during the pandemic. Analysis of 2021 results indicate over 40% of parents declined or delayed their infant’s hearing screening due to the pandemic, however, over 50% of those parents did reschedule. In addition, 100% of parents who attended an audiologist for their child did so in person, while other medical specialties and therapies were attended both in person and via telemedicine.
Changes to service delivery have occurred in response to the survey results. The results were incorporated in a newly created online training for hospital staff on communicating with parents about their child’s hearing screening results. A pediatrician presented survey results to at the Alaska Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) meeting.
- Identify strategies for developing and implementing a multi-year statewide Early Hearing and Intervention (EHDI) parent survey
- Identify research questions that will help guide survey development, including questions relevant to current conditions
- Describe ways survey results can be used to guide program activities
Poster:
3353554_14938KarenHeath.pdf
Presenter: Annette Callies
Annette is responsible for management of the EHDI Program. As Coordinator of Quality Improvement Team, she guides policies to increase follow-up rates. She serves as the lead on follow-up activity analysis, interpretation, and reporting on programmatic data to plan or reconfigure systems to improve efficiency, including provision of technical assistance as required. Annette also provides education to health care providers, early intervention specialists and parents about the program and monitors the State database for timeliness of referrals and to identify and resolve system issues. To engage a diverse group of stakeholders in systems improvement, she plans and facilitates the EHDI Advisory Committee Meetings and provides technical assistance to sub-committees. In her free time, Annette enjoys painting, portrait photography and playing with her five grandbabies.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Karen Heath is the Co-Director of Alaska’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. She has been the principal investigator on several health-related research and evaluation projects, including Alaska’s Early Hearing and Detection parent survey, the National Core Indicators Survey, and the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Survey Phone follow-up survey, to name a few. She has over 20 years of work in the disability field, from direct service to administration. She holds a Masters degree in Vocational Rehabilitation from the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.