LM326 - Audiology Barriers to Cochlear Implantation for Children with Hearing Loss

Abstract:
Only about 50% of children who could potentially benefit from a cochlear implant receive a cochlear implant. The Cochlear Implant–Patient Access to Hearing (CI-PATH) Pediatric Collaborative is comprised of a group of pediatric hearing healthcare professionals, early interventionists, educators, advocates, and family members of individuals with hearing loss who desire to make cochlear implants more accessible to children. The CI-PATH Collaborative has identified barriers that impede children’s access to cochlear implants and has identified potential solutions to these barriers. This presentation will provide a summary of these audiology barriers and will describe audiology-centric solutions for these barriers.

Research suggests that only about 50 percent of children who could potentially benefit from a cochlear implant receive a cochlear implant. In contrast, 90 percent or more of pediatric cochlear implant candidates in many European countries and Australia receive a cochlear implant. The Cochlear Implant – Patient Access to Hearing (CI-PATH) Pediatric Collaborative is comprised of a group of pediatric hearing healthcare professionals, early interventionists, educators, advocates, and family members of individuals with hearing loss who desire to make cochlear implants more accessible to children who are likely to benefit from the technology and whose families wish to pursue cochlear implantation to optimize their children’s development and potential. In previous meetings, the CI-PATH Pediatric Collaborative has identified numerous barriers that impede children’s access to cochlear implantation.

The CI-PATH group also engaged in the A3 problem-solving process to identify potential solutions to these barriers. This presentation will provide a summary of the audiology barriers that impede children from receiving a cochlear implant when needed.

This presentation will also describe numerous countermeasures and potential solutions for overcoming these barriers. Additionally, this presentation will describe three ongoing projects that aim to create and implement solutions to each of the three audiology-related barriers that limit children’s access to cochlear implantation. Specifically, these three potential solutions include the establishment of evidence-based audiology referral criteria for cochlear implantation for children, the creation of simple messaging associated with the potential benefits and limitations of cochlear implants for children, and the development of training programs to educate audiologists, early interventionists, and other professionals regarding pediatric cochlear implant candidacy, benefits, and additional considerations.