2025 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 9-11, 2025 • Pittsburgh, PA
DAVID L. LAWRENCE CONVENTION CENTER
| Outcomes and Quality Improvement in Hearing Specialty Early Intervention
Outcomes and Quality Improvement in Hearing Specialty Early Intervention
This poster will cover a program and quality improvement initiative conducted in conjunction with a clinical site, the New England Center for Hearing Rehabilitation (NECHEAR) and the HELLO Lab at the University of Connecticut. NECHEAR is a clinic has been open since 1999 by providing audiologic and rehabilitation services to adults, children, and families in Connecticut and surrounding states. The HELLO Lab is a research lab at the University of Connecticut focused on language development of children who are D/deaf and hard of hearing. Through an iterative collaborative process, a data management database was devised for NECHEAR to use in tracking the outcome and progress measures completed on children who are enrolled in the NECHEAR program.
Through this data management system (with demonstration of the use of RedCap for this type of work), presenters will highlight the outcome measures that are in used in this clinic. Each of these outcome measures will have a review of the individual metrics that are used as well as any noted trends in outcomes within this program evaluation. A focus of this will be the impact of early intervention on aquiring age appropriate languge skills and how that directs clinical practice. The primary value of this poster will be the overview of how individual clinics can leverage best clinical practice (in terms of assessment) and program requirements (evaluations required by school and intervention systems) to track their own outcomes and understand the unique situation and determinates for the community they serve.
- Describe how best clinical practice and program requirements align with quality improvement efforts
- Critique the presented data collection mechanism
- Propose additional analysis of the outcome data that could propel this quality improvement effort
Presentation:
3545975_18287Torri AnnWoodruff-Gautherin.pdf
Handouts:
3545975_18287Torri AnnWoodruff-Gautherin.pdf
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Kristin Dilaj
(Primary Presenter,Author,Co-Author), New England Center for Hearing Rehabilitation, kdilaj@nechear.com;
Kristin Dilaj, AuD., Ph.D, is Co-Director and Audiologist at the New England Center for Hearing Rehabilitation, LLC. Her areas of clinical interest and research include evaluating functional listening skills for children, access recommendations for students in educational settings, cochlear implant programming strategies and outcomes, and early intervention. She is a state representative for the Educational Audiology Association, a past president of the Academy of Rehabilitative Audiology and a co-chair of the Connecticut EHDI Task Force.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
• Has a Professional
(CT EHDI Task Force Co-Chair)
relationship for Board membership.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with .
Nature: Co-Chair of CT EHDI Task Force
Birth to Three Provider.
Nonfinancial -
Non-Financial relationship with .
Nature: Co-Chair of CT EHDI Task Force
Birth to Three Provider.
Jenn Cox
(Co-Presenter,Author,Co-Author), NECHEAR, jcox@nechear.com;
Jennifer received her training at the University of Connecticut’s Childhood Hearing Impairment Program. Her areas of expertise include provision of aural (re)habilitation services and pediatric diagnostic testing. She focuses on collaborating with families, therapists, educators, and physicians to provide quality, individualized hearing healthcare to her clients. Jennifer’s research interests include best practices for early intervention and access for children with hearing loss in the mainstream. She is the director of the NECHEAR PALs program.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
Courtney Melick
(Co-Presenter,Co-Author), HELLO Lab at the University of Connecticut, courtney.melick@uconn.edu;
Courtney received her B.A. in biochemistry from the Ohio State University in 2021. Following graduation, she worked as the lab manager for the Psychosocial Cognitive Lab at OSU. Courtney entered the doctoral audiology program at University of Connecticut in autumn of 2023 and is currently working as a graduate assistant in the HELLO lab. In her free time, Courtney enjoys reading, painting, and taking ballet classes.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Torri Ann Woodruff-Gautherin
(Co-Presenter,Co-Author), University of Connecticut, torri.woodruff@uconn.edu;
Torri Ann Woodruff-Gautherin, PhD is a Research Scientist in the HELLO Lab of Dr. Derek Houston at UCONN. Passionate about bolstering the voices of stakeholders, Torri Ann implements qualitative methods to highlight the power and value of individual voices in making change. Torri Ann is interested in the intersection of public health, early intervention, and family support.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Grants for Other activities from EAA.
• Receives Salary,Grants for Employment,Other activities from UConn.
Nonfinancial -
• Has a Professional
(Co Chair)
relationship for Board membership.
• Has a Professional
(Board memeber)
relationship for Board membership.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with UConn
EAA
NIH
CT EHDI Taskforce
CT Hands & Voices.
Nature: UConn - employee and a grant on this topic
EAA - grant for related work
NIH - employed on grant
CT EHDI Taskforce - co-chair
CT Hands & Voices - board memeber.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Derek Houston
(Co-Presenter,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:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.