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"The barriers are plentiful." Speech-language pathologists' perspectives of enablers and barriers to hearing assessment for children in metropolitan, regional, and rural Australia: A mixed methods study.
- Source :
- International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology; Apr2024, Vol. 26 Issue 2, p289-300, 12p
- Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- Access to hearing assessment is important for children, as poor auditory information can lead to poor speech and oral language development. This study aims to identify enablers and barriers to accessing hearing assessments for Australian children from the perspective of speech-language pathologists (SLPs), comparing access in metropolitan, regional, and rural areas. This is a sequential, explanatory mixed-methods study. Forty-nine participants completed the quantitative survey and 14 participated in semi-structured interviews. The study was undertaken online and included participants from metropolitan, regional, and rural parts of Australian states and territories. Similar accessibility issues were experienced across geographic locations and access to hearing assessment was related to the complexity of individual contexts. Speech-language pathologists felt that awareness and knowledge of hearing loss was low in parents and health professionals. Participants discussed barriers such as long wait times, complex criteria, and inefficient services that lead to compromised outcomes for clients. Barriers to hearing assessment are extensive and multifaceted. Future research might examine the accessibility of the health system in light of the barriers discussed in this research, and whether policies and procedures could be adapted to allow more easily accessible services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- HEARING disorder diagnosis
SPEECH therapists
HEALTH services accessibility
HEALTH literacy
INTERVIEWING
KRUSKAL-Wallis Test
CULTURE
AUDIOMETRY
CHI-squared test
DESCRIPTIVE statistics
SURVEYS
ATTITUDES of medical personnel
METROPOLITAN areas
RURAL conditions
RESEARCH methodology
CLINICAL competence
HEARING
DATA analysis software
LANGUAGE acquisition
TIME
SOCIAL classes
CHILDREN
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 17549507
- Volume :
- 26
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 176721678
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2023.2215486