2024 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 17-19, 2024 • Denver, CO
3/19/2024 | 9:40 AM - 10:05 AM | Audiology Barriers to Cochlear Implantation for Children with Hearing Loss | Capitol 5
Audiology Barriers to Cochlear Implantation for Children with Hearing Loss
Research suggests that only about 50 percent of children who could potentially benefit from a cochlear implant actually receive a cochlear implant. In contrast, 90 percent or more of pediatric cochlear implant candidates in many European countries and Australia receive a cochlear implant. The Cochlear Implant – Patient Access to Hearing (CI-PATH) Pediatric Collaborative is comprised of a group of pediatric hearing healthcare professionals, early interventionists, educators, advocates, and family members of individuals with hearing loss who desire to make cochlear implants more accessible to children who are likely to benefit from the technology and whose families wish to pursue cochlear implantation to optimize their children’s development and potential. In previous meetings, the CI-PATH Pediatric Collaborative has identified numerous barriers that impede children’s access to cochlear implantation. The CI-PATH group also engaged in the A3 problem solving process to identify potential solutions to these barriers. This presentation will provide a summary of the audiology barriers that impede children from receiving a cochlear implant when needed. This presentation will also describe numerous countermeasures and potential solutions for overcoming these barriers. Additionally, this presentation will describe three ongoing projects that aim to create and implement solutions to each of three audiology-related barriers that limit children’s access to cochlear implantation. Specifically, these three potential solutions include the establishment of evidence-based audiology referral criteria for cochlear implantation for children, the creation of simple messaging associated with the potential benefits and limitations of cochlear implants for children, and the development of training programs to educate audiologists, early interventionists, and other professionals regarding pediatric cochlear implant candidacy, benefits, and additional considerations.
- Describe a summary of the audiology and other miscellaneous barriers that impede children’s access to cochlear implantation.
- Describe three countermeasures developed by a group of pediatric hearing healthcare providers to overcome common audiology barriers to cochlear implantation for children with hearing loss.
- Describe three ongoing projects designed to improve access to cochlear implantation for children with hearing loss.
Presentation:
3478265_16449JaceWolfe.pdf
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
3478265_16449JaceWolfe.docx
Presenters/Authors
Jace Wolfe
(Primary Presenter), Oberkotter Foundation, jwolfe@oberkotterfoundation.org;
Jace Wolfe, Ph.D., is the Senior Vice President of Innovation at the Oberkotter Foundation. He is author of the textbook entitled “Cochlear Implants: Audiologic Management and Considerations for Implantable Hearing Devices,” and he is co-editor (with Carol Flexer, Jane Madell, and Erin Schafer) of the textbooks “Pediatric Audiology: Diagnosis, Technology, and Management, Third Edition” and “Pediatric Audiology Casebook, Second Edition.” He is also a co-author of the textbook entitled “Programming Cochlear Implants, Third Edition.” His areas of interests are pediatric hearing healthcare, pediatric amplification and cochlear implantation, personal remote microphone technology, and signal processing for children.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Salary for Employment from Oberkotter Foundation/Hearing First.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with Oberkotter Foundation/Hearing First.
Nature: Employ.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Joanna Smith
(Co-Author), Hearts for Hearing, joanna.smith@heartsforhearing.org;
Joanna Smith, M.S., Listening and Spoken Language Specialist, is the Chief Executive Officer of Hearts for Hearing.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -