Teleaudiology for Infant Diagnostic Assessments: Audiologists' Views on Challenges and Opportunities in a
Jocelyn Phillips1, Dani Tomlin1, Kelley Graydon1
1Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Insights
Teleaudiology infant diagnostic services could improve access to hearing loss care for families, but requires careful planning. A proposed training model aims to support clinicians and enhance service delivery in underserved regions.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Telehealth
- Pediatric Healthcare
Background:
- Universal newborn hearing screening identifies hearing loss early.
- Access to diagnostic audiology remains a challenge for some families.
- Victoria, Australia faces persistent access barriers despite high follow-up rates.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate audiologists' opinions on implementing teleaudiology for infant diagnostic audiology.
- Identify barriers and facilitators to teleaudiology adoption in Victoria.
- Explore audiologists' perspectives on a proposed teleaudiology model.
Main Methods:
- Three focus groups with nine experienced infant diagnostic audiologists.
- Utilized the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation-Behaviour model for questioning.
- Thematic analysis of audiologists' opinions on teleaudiology implementation.
Main Results:
- Teleaudiology presents a trade-off: improving access while potentially introducing new challenges.
- Key concerns include communication, risk of error, and financial/motivational factors.
- A training model was proposed for experienced clinicians to upskill others as facilitators.
Conclusions:
- Teleaudiology can enhance accessibility for infant diagnostic assessments if training, communication, and resources are prioritized.
- A novel training model can support service access and workforce development.
- Ensuring service quality is paramount for successful teleaudiology implementation.
Purpose:
Universal newborn hearing screening allows early identification of hearing loss; however, some families face difficulties accessing diagnostic audiology. This study aimed to investigate audiologists' opinions regarding implementing a teleaudiology infant diagnostic audiology service in Victoria, Australia, a region where traditional access barriers persist despite high follow-up rates.
Method:
Nine experienced infant diagnostic audiologists participated in three focus groups. Prompt questions, based on the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation-Behaviour model of behavior change, explored clinician-identified barriers and facilitators to teleaudiology implementation. Thematic analysis was used to analyze audiologists' opinions of the proposed model.
Results:
Audiologists identified that teleaudiology infant diagnostic services may introduce a barrier trade-off; while teleaudiology had the capacity to reduce barriers to service access for some families, it may introduce additional challenges compared to in-person testing. Three main barriers or areas of concern regarding a teleaudiology model of infant diagnostic services were identified: communication and support concerns, risk of error, and financial and motivational concerns. Participants proposed a training model, where experienced clinicians could support and upskill less experienced audiologists acting as in-person facilitators of the service, to address both service delivery and workforce development needs.
Conclusions:
A teleaudiology model of infant diagnostic assessments in Victoria has the potential to improve accessibility if facilitator training, effective family communication, and resource management are prioritized to ensure service quality is not impacted. A proposed training model offers a novel approach to use teleaudiology to maintain service access, as well as improve workforce experience in underserviced areas.
