Project Description:
Project Context:
In Utah, over 98% of newborns are screened for hearing loss, and each year 150 infants are identified with a permanent hearing loss. The referral rate in Utah for those infants who do not pass the initial screen is approximately 5-6%, but of those infants who are referred from the initial hospital screening, evidence of screening completion and diagnostic results can only be documented for 65-70%. When children with permanent hearing loss are identified early, fit with appropriate hearing aids or cochlear implants, and receive early intervention services from trained staff, most are able to progress at age-appropriate, and require few, if any, special education services. If babies don't have access to timely and appropriate diagnostic assessments, the continued sustainability of newborn hearing screening programs may be jeopardized.
Presently, there is a critical shortage of audiologists who have the expertise and experience to do diagnostic assessments on 0 to 3-month-old babies and this is jeopardizing all of the work and expense that has gone into establishing hospital-based newborn hearing screening programs. The shortage of qualified and experienced pediatric audiologist to do the assessments and fitting/maintenance of hearing technology is not due to a shortage of audiologists. Rather the need for pediatric audiologists and the technology and equipment for working with infants is so new that most licensed audiologists do not have the skills and most university training programs have not fully addressed the gaps in their training curricula. There is an urgent need to find avenues for graduate audiology students as well as practicing audiologists to enhance and advance their clinical skills.
Project Focus:
The Utah Regional Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (URLEND) at the CPD and its partners provide interdisciplinary training to both graduate students and professionals in the field of audiology. The URLEND faculty, with expertise in infant and pediatric audiology are at USU, which also has the largest graduate program in audiology in the state.
The URLEND Infant and Pediatric Audiology Project (IPA) will address the audiology training need through a combination of interdisciplinary didactic training, intensive clinical opportunities, and targeted leadership experiences by integrating the audiology training initiative within the existing URLEND interdisciplinary training program already established. This additional training will increase the number of pediatric audiologists who are serving children with special health care needs and their families.
Through this training:
1. Pediatric audiology trainees will gain important leadership skills and an understanding of the systems that provide services to children with special health care needs (CSHCN) and their families.
2. Trainees will become effective change agents in improving the Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI) system that a part of the CSCHN system in every state.
3. Other URLEND trainees will be exposed to more information about early childhood hearing loss and the associated services so that they become more effective partners in delivering the interdisciplinary services needed by these children and their families.
Products/Services:
The URLEND-IPA Project will complete the following:
1. Provide at least 350 clock hours of didactic, intensive clinical, leadership, and research activities exemplifying best, evidenced-based practices for long-term URLEND-IPA trainees.
2. Provide interdisciplinary didactic, clinical, leadership, and research opportunities with an emphasis on assessment, diagnosis, and treatment interventions in pediatric (infant) audiology for at least 40 short-term and 10 medium-term trainees/year.
3. Support and conduct at least one substantive CE activity focused on improving services to children and youth with hearing loss and their families each year
4. Provide an additional 100 hours of training to maternal and child health care professionals and families.
5. Present research findings at 4 national conferences.
6. Each year, develop and disseminate at the state, regional, and national level at least 6 educational products / scholarly articles related directly to hearing loss to strengthen family-centered, culturally responsive, community-based integrated services.
7. Review and continuously improve all aspects of URLEND-IPA and determine its impact on various constituencies including trainees, children and youth with hearing loss and their families, and professionals.
2010 Focus:
Core Function(s):
Training Trainees, Performing Technical Assistance and/or Training, Performing Research or Evaluation, Developing & Disseminating Information
Target Audience:
Students/Trainees (long or intermediate trainees), Community Trainees / Short term trainees, Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Disadvantaged Circumstances, Specific Groups
