EARLY HEARING DETECTION AND INTERVENTION VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
MARCH 2-5, 2021
(Virtually the same conference, without elevators, airplane tickets, or hotel room keys)
Mixed-Methods Analysis of the Effects of COVID-19 on Families with Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Background: Parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) experience psychosocial pressures even in the best of times, including social isolation and parenting stress, all within the broader context of social determinants of health. These challenges have been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has limited in-person contacts outside the home, including access to hearing, speech, and language services. A swift response to this public health crisis is essential to inform service provision to DHH children and their families in the context of ongoing shifts in the social/healthcare landscape.
Methods/Findings: In September 2020, we launched an internet-based survey about COVID-19’s effects on DHH children (ages 0-17) and their families in Kentucky. We assessed parents’ (n=132) experiences with their DHH children’s hearing healthcare access and use during the first 6-8 months of the pandemic. Other measures included the COVID-19 Exposure and Family Impact Survey (CEFIS) and validated scales assessing parent and child wellbeing, attitudes toward telehealth, and social determinants of health. We integrated quantitative and qualitative findings using a mixed-methods approach and will present factors associated with better and worse child and family outcomes during the pandemic, as well as examples of unmet hearing healthcare and related needs.
Next Steps: A subsample of parents will complete qualitative interviews, providing deeper insights. Parent surveys and interviews will be repeated at 6-month follow-up. Building upon parent survey and interview findings, we will interview hearing healthcare service providers and administrators to assess barriers and facilitators to service provision during this public health crisis. We will integrate findings to generate a multi-perspective understanding of the effects of COVID-19 on children who are DHH and their families, and we will rapidly disseminate these results to targeted stakeholders to inform changes to practice and policy to meet the needs of this population.
- Describe the mixed-methods project design used for this study
- Describe the sociodemographic characteristics of study participants
- Describe the unmet needs identified by parent participants in the study
Poster:
23278_13722LauraBellnier.pdf
Presenter: Laura Bellnier
Laura Bellnier, MPH, is a research associate at the University of Kentucky. Her work in hearing healthcare research began as a graduate assistant while pursuing her Master of Public Health at the University of Kentucky. Ms. Bellnier assists with several grant-funded projects that focus on increasing access to hearing health care and evidence-based interventions to improve health outcomes for children and adults who are deaf or hard of hearing. Prior to joining the University of Kentucky, Ms. Bellnier spent seven years providing educational access and affordable housing services to underserved families in Appalachia and Central Kentucky.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Julie Jacobs, MPH, is a research director at the University of Kentucky, where she has worked for the past 9 years with Dr. Christina Studts on grant-funded projects that focus on increasing access to evidence-based interventions to address the needs of underserved populations, particularly for children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families. Ms. Jacobs earned her Master of Public Health degree at Saint Louis University in 2010, and she started her public health research career over 12 years ago at Washington University in St. Louis.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
Callihan Moraska is an undergraduate student at the University of Kentucky, expected to graduate in May 2022 with a Bachelor of Public Health degree and a minor in Biology. Ms. Moraska has worked with Dr. Christina Studts’ research team for three semesters, assisting with quantitative and qualitative analyses of a study of the impact of the COVID pandemic on children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
Dr. Studts is an associate professor of pediatrics and implementation scientist in the Adult & Child Consortium for Health Outcomes Research & Delivery Science (ACCORDS) at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Her research focuses on increasing access to evidence-based parenting interventions among understudied and underserved populations, including parents of young children who are deaf or hard of hearing and who use hearing aids or cochlear implants. In addition to leading her own program of community-engaged research, Dr. Studts serves as an implementation scientist on teams studying the adoption and sustained use of evidence-based practices in a variety of topical areas, and she directs and teaches in the Dissemination and Implementation Graduate Certificate Program at the University of Colorado.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -