Parental views on informational counselling provided by audiologists for children with permanent childhood hearing loss.
Zandile M Shezi, Lavanithum N Joseph
PMID 34082545WHAT IT FOUND
Parents reported that audiologists overwhelmingly presented only hearing aids and sign language, ignoring other communication options and educational methods.
Families specifically requested information on the cause of hearing loss, parent support groups, and all available rehabilitative technologies to make truly informed decisions.
Key findings
01All 89 participants who received counselling reported being informed about hearing aids and South African Sign Language as the only communication options, with only 10% told about all available options like total communication or oralism.
02Majority of parents identified gaps in information regarding the cause of hearing loss (64%), parent-to-parent support groups (72%), all communication options (62%), and communication intervention strategies (88%).
03Participants emphasized that contextual factors such as socio-economic status (100%), spiritual beliefs (49%), language (69%), and family dynamics (65%) must be considered during informational counselling to make it relevant.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study relied on parental recall of counselling provided in the past 5 years, which may introduce bias. There was a disproportion in participants accessed from public versus private sectors. The study was conducted in one province (KwaZulu-Natal), limiting generalizability to other regions with different linguistic or cultural profiles.
Declared interests
No specific conflicts of interest or funding sources were declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that families have received comprehensive information about all communication options or the cause of their child's hearing loss. This study shows that most parents were only told about hearing aids and sign language, meaning they may not have made fully informed decisions regarding intervention.