Parent perspectives on multidisciplinary pediatric hearing healthcare

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Audiology
• Family-Centered Care
• Healthcare Delivery Models

Background:

• Family-centered healthcare emphasizes parental involvement in pediatric care.
• Limited understanding exists regarding family perceptions of multidisciplinary team models in pediatric hearing clinics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate parent experiences with a one-day multidisciplinary assessment in pediatric hearing healthcare.
• To identify strengths and weaknesses in the current multidisciplinary team model from a parent perspective.

Main Methods:

• Collected and analyzed quantitative and qualitative parent survey responses post-assessment.
• Utilized descriptive analysis for quantitative data and content analysis for qualitative themes.
• Compared separate analyses of quantitative and qualitative data to identify convergent and divergent findings.

Main Results:

• High overall satisfaction was reported by parents.
• Parents sometimes felt overwhelmed by information and unclear about specific disciplinary roles.
• Inadequate information regarding functional hearing (social/academic impact) was a noted weakness.
• Findings led to a shift from a multidisciplinary to an interdisciplinary care coordination model.

Conclusions:

• Parental perspectives are crucial for family-centered care and can impact child development.
• Systematic evaluation of parent experiences can refine service delivery for children with hearing loss.
• Optimizing communication and care coordination enhances outcomes for children with hearing loss.