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Global Initiatives for Hearing Health in the 21st Century
Published in Stavros Hatzopoulos, Andrea Ciorba, Mark Krumm, Advances in Audiology and Hearing Science, 2020
Bradley McPherson, Shelly Chadha
The Global Foundation for Children with Hearing Loss (GFCHL, 2017) is an international not-for-profit organization serving children with hearing impairment worldwide. In 2010 the Global Foundation initiated a Vietnam Deaf Education Program, to improve access to identification and rehabilitation services for young Vietnamese children with hearing impairment—particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Vietnam is in the early stages of the development of ear and hearing health care services. There is a shortage of health workers and educators with the appropriate skills to facilitate optimal intervention with young children (Lam et al., 2016), a widespread scenario in many developing countries (Goulios and Patuzzi, 2008). A key priority for the program has been capacity building through training Vietnamese teachers, therapists, medical professionals, audiology technicians, and parents of children with hearing loss in the appropriate skill sets needed to support children and to train others (Stringer, 2017b). The program has developed a year-round education and practice curriculum that is ongoing, with graduates returning to acquire new skills over time. Over 300 professionals and families from 38 schools and early intervention centers, three hospitals and several audiology clinics throughout Vietnam have benefited from this ambitious national training program (Stringer, 2017b). A thoughtful innovation of this program is that it is explicitly aimed to develop a community of practice (Seibert, 2014)—a network of Vietnamese education and health workers who provide support for each other and for children with hearing loss. Until very recently, Vietnam had no education programs in audiology, speech pathology or deaf education, and linking scarce human resources in this way aided the development of effective services. Vietnam now has three centers for pediatric audiology, early education and auditory-verbal therapy outside Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City that are managed by Vietnamese professionals who are graduates of the Global Foundation program (Stringer, 2017b). The priority given to training is in line with the Global Foundation’s emphasis on sustainability and on the program elements such as training that engender sustainability (Stringer, 2017a).
Teleaudiology
Published in Stavros Hatzopoulos, Andrea Ciorba, Mark Krumm, Advances in Audiology and Hearing Science, 2020
Piotr H. Skarzynski, Mark Krumm, Karolina Penar, Stavros Hatzopoulos
Perhaps in response to the ever-growing applications of telemedicine, there was the realization that “telemedicine” as a term appeared to exclude allied health care professionals. In response, the term “telehealth” became popular and included all health care professionals involved with dispensing health care via a telecommunications medium. In addition, telehealth (and telemedicine) services have been further categorized to other specific needs including: Telecare (also called telemonitoring) is often used for the care of chronically ill patients by monitoring vital signs. Using telecare, healthcare providers can determine if a client is experiencing pathological vital signs through ongoing health care surveillance and, when necessary, to intervene with appropriate management.Telemedicine infers any kind of diagnosis or treatment of clients by a physician utilizing a telecommunications system. Because of the technology involved, telemedicine applications are often one of the most technically advanced forms of healthcare services. One such example is that of telesurgery in which surgeons use remote computing software (interfaced to the robotic technology) to operate on clients in distant locations.Telediagnostics occurs when a specialist uses telecommunications technology to administer a variety of test procedure. Instrumentation in this circumstance is typically interfaced to Internet for measurement and transmission purposes (e.g., such as a heartbeat measured electronically by stethoscope interfaced to a network for telemedicine purposes).Telerehabilitation allows postoperative or postoperative rehabilitation directly at the patient’s home or other facility. These services are generally delivered via interactive video by hearing health care clinicians to provide such services as auditory verbal therapy or tinnitus treatment.Teleducation incorporates the use of Internet teaching solutions typically implemented through online telehealth platforms (e.g., medical telecoms portals or e-learning platforms supporting employees and students). Teleducation can be delivered entirely as “live” sessions with interactive video to one or several sites simultaneously. Frequently, teleducation is delivered in a hybrid model incorporating live lectures which are supplemented by student reading and writing assignments.Teleconsultation refers to the exchange of information between specialists, or a specialist consultation directly with the patient. These consultations can take place at a clinical setting or within client homes.
Efficacy of auditory verbal therapy in children with cochlear implantation based on auditory performance – A systematic review
Published in Cochlear Implants International, 2023
Augustina Noel, Manju Manikandan, Prawin Kumar
Auditory Verbal Therapy is an early intervention for children with hearing impairments and implants at an early age (Pollack et al., 1997). It comprises of an individualized intensive therapy plan whose major objective is to train the children with hearing impairment to use audition as the primary modality in achieving age appropriate spoken language skills (Brennan-Jones et al., 2014; Estabrooks, 1994). The goal of AVT is in the development of four domains of audition, language, speech and cognition. Hence, children must undergo training in order to utilize the auditory stimulation received from the implant with active involvement of parents (Percy-Smith et al., 2018). AVT aims to achieve full integration into mainstream society following an array of 10 principles of clinical practice. One of the principles is coaching and guidance of parents and caregivers to become the main facilitators for the child (Chowdhry, 2010). The level of parental involvement, quality, value and duration of childcare services they receive is critical to their psychological, social and educational development and ultimately the quality of life they achieve (Dworkin, 1993). Another principle is to evaluate the progress of therapy by administering certain formal or informal diagnostic tools. Many studies measure outcomes within the domains of speech perception and production, auditory performance, language development, and reading abilities.
Benefits of auditory-verbal intervention for adult cochlear implant users: perspectives of users and their coaches
Published in International Journal of Audiology, 2022
Elizabeth M. Fitzpatrick, Valérie Carrier, Geneviève Turgeon, Tina Olmstead, Arran McAfee, JoAnne Whittingham, David Schramm
Many programs for paediatric patients with cochlear implants include intensive listening, speech, and language instruction with a focus on parent participation. Auditory-verbal therapy (also known as Listening and Spoken Language intervention) is one intervention that is widely advocated for children with hearing loss. Core principles of the auditory-verbal approach involve maximising auditory potential and guiding and coaching parents to develop their child’s auditory and spoken language skills (A.G. Bell Academy for Listening and Spoken Language 2017). There is some evidence to support the effectiveness of this therapy approach (Brennan-Jones et al. 2014; Dornan et al. 2008) and the intervention has gained particular momentum with children who have CI (Dettman et al. 2013; Percy-Smith et al. 2018). In paediatric auditory-verbal therapy, there is a focus on coaching parents to support their child’s spoken language development through the teaching of specific auditory skills combined with support for inclusion in school and social environments with hearing peers (Percy-Smith et al. 2018). The approach has also gained some attention as a potential therapeutic intervention for adult cochlear implant users (Baungaard et al. 2019). However, the characteristics of adult auditory-verbal intervention are not well-defined, and it is not widely available to adults. Relatively little is known about the application or benefits of auditory-verbal strategies for adult CI users.
Developmental performance among pediatric candidates for cochlear implantation
Published in Acta Oto-Laryngologica, 2021
Yanhong Li, Wanxia Zhang, Yang Yang, Bing Liu, Min Chen, Wei Liu, Bei Li, Yi Zhou, Jie Zhang, Xin Ni
The other major finding of this study was that the later the intervention, the more obvious the developmental delay of deaf children, indicating the importance of early intervention. Fulcher underlined that if children with severe hearing loss could be diagnosed early, used amplification for up to 3 months, received auditory-verbal therapy for up to 6 months and had a CI was inserted for up to 18 months, they could ‘catch up to’ their typically hearing peers by age of 3 years [16]. Meinzen revealed that children enrolled prior to the age of 6 months were more likely to have age-appropriate language skills [17]. In addition, it was proposed that preoperative developments were associated with improvement in auditory perception and speech production after CI in children. Thus, preoperative care for the developmental performance was of great significance for rehabilitation effect after CI.