Accessing hearing-health services for deaf and hard-of-hearing children during the COVID-19 pandemic: parent and child perspectives

Dr Ahmed Mardinli¹, Dr Rona Weerasuriya^1,2,3, Ms Alanna Gillespie⁴, Ms Libby Smith⁴, A/Prof Valerie Sung^1,4,5

¹The University of Melbourne, Department of Paediatrics, Melbourne, Australia, ²The Centre for Social Impact, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, ³Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Genomics in Society, Melbourne, Australia, ⁴Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Prevention Innovation, Population Health, Melbourne, Australia, ⁵The Royal Children’s Hospital, Centre for Community Child Health, Melbourne, Australia

Objective:
To describe hearing-health service use, especially use of telehealth, during the COVID-19 pandemic in deaf/hard-of-hearing children.

Methods:
In 2020, the Victorian Childhood Hearing Longitudinal Databank (VicCHILD) invited 806 families to an online survey. Of these, 497 (61.6%) completed some or all of the survey, with 449 (90.3%) providing quantitative data and 336 (67.6%) providing free-text comments about the impact of COVID-19 on service use and access. We summarised quantitative data using descriptive statistics, and analysed free-text responses using inductive and deductive reasoning with NVivo software and pre-determined codebook.

Results:
Of the 1152 services families used during the pandemic, 711 (62%) were accessed via telehealth. Parents reported their child found telehealth appointments more difficult (347/665, 52.1%) and of worse quality (363/649, 55.9%) compared to in-person. These difficulties were more evident in pre-school than school-age children. Several challenges and facilitators of hearing-health service access and use were identified.

Conclusions:
Many deaf/hard-of-hearing children accessed hearing-health services via telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents reported several challenges and facilitators of service access during the pandemic, particularly in relation to telehealth. Consideration of these factors when implementing telehealth practice beyond the pandemic would improve family experiences ensuring quality of care.

Biography:

Dr Ahmed Mardinli is recent Doctor of Medicine (MD) graduate from the University of Melbourne. He is currently working as an intern at Western Health. He has a special interest in paediatric research and clinical practice.

Email address: aimardinli@gmail.com