eHealth Education and Support for Pediatric Hearing Aid Management: Parent Goals, Questions, and Challenges.

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Health Informatics
• Parental Support

Background:

• Effective hearing aid management is crucial for children's development.
• Parental involvement and support are key factors in managing hearing aids.
• eHealth programs offer a scalable solution for providing education and support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore parent goals, questions, and challenges during eHealth coaching calls.
• To understand the role of an eHealth program in supporting hearing aid management.
• To identify barriers and facilitators to successful hearing aid use in children.

Main Methods:

• Audio-recorded coaching phone calls from an eHealth hearing aid management program.
• Qualitative analysis of transcripts to identify emergent themes.
• Categorization of themes into parent goals, questions, and challenges.

Main Results:

• Parent goals centered on self-efficacy, establishing routines, device care, and child development.
• Common questions involved device care, audiology appointments, learning confirmation, and child development.
• Challenges included parental emotional struggles, audiologist interactions, child-related factors, and anticipated difficulties.

Conclusions:

• The eHealth program provided a supportive environment for parents to voice concerns.
• Supportive accountability facilitated the identification and resolution of hearing aid management barriers.
• Supplemental learning support, alongside audiology visits, enhances parental ability to manage hearing aids effectively.