Thunder Bay, ON Children’s Centre, funded by the Ministry of Children, Community, and Social Services, operates the Infant Hearing Program that strives to identify infants with hearing loss early in life. The service at least provides a physiological hearing screening test to all the newborns in Thunder Bay city, which includes the risk factor screening test for CMV infection and genetic risk factors that cause hearing loss (Children’s Centre Thunder Bay, n.d.). Through this program, nurses can be efficiently utilized in hospital settings to link referrals for hearing screening. Therefore, nurses can effectively apply the Infant Hearing Program to their patients, especially the ones who receive prenatal or postnatal care in a maternity ward or a public clinic in the city and District of Thunder Bay.
The program has strength in identifying and responding to diverse situations. As stated by the research study conducted by Bussé et al. (2021), providing infants with new hearing screening services promoted in the program is critical, especially in identifying the problem and promptly addressing it. Notably, Ching & Leigh’s (2020) research found that early detection and intervention of language issues in infants and children with congenital hearing loss contribute to the prognosis of this language disorder.
Although it has its strengths, the program has its weaknesses as well. One significant barrier is making the screening services available to everyone and providing appropriate care for those diagnosed. According to a study by Neumann et al. (2022), the gap in global accessibility is one of the main challenges for neonatal hearing screening programs. These programs bring many benefits to children but are only available to some equably. For example, the unprivileged find more difficulties getting healthcare services and may have a late diagnosis and intervention indicated (Neumann et al.,2022).
Moreover, another challenge is the need for continuing supervision and help in the follow-up stage for the families as soon as it is discovered that a child has hearing loss. Deng et al. (2020) admit that supporting the establishment of all-inclusive extended newborn hearing disaster and emergency treatment programs that will constantly help families is still a considerable challenge. Although the Infant Hearing Program provides family support services, the possibility of inexact screening and inappropriate referrals due to the limitations of some of these services in terms of accessibility and cultural relevance to diverse Canadian families exists.
Nonetheless, with these challenges in mind, as a nurse advocate, policies and political efforts to allocate resources and assistance to carry out early hearing detection programs for all newborns as evidence-informed interventions would be critical for the program’s success. Therefore, in the future, advocacy could be implemented by appealing to governmental agencies and legislators to skillfully promote the allocation of funds for such programs, focusing on the underserved areas (Deng et al., 2020).
In lobbying for change, providing cultural sensitivity and accessibility platforms as vital components of the program will bring into consideration diverse Canadian family needs. This will require the incorporation of the Bible, cultural-specific resources, and staff training on sensitivity culture (Bussé et al., 2021). In the same way, telehealth and remote monitoring technologies can help those families in restricted rural or remote areas (Deng et al., 2020).
In summation, the Infant Hearing Program of the Children Centre, Thunder Bay, is a crucial part used in detecting deafness at an early stage and also provides an intervention approach. Although the program excels in its fully structured concept of screening and assistance, several missing links and confrontations still need to be woven out. By recommending policy reforms, enriching cultural sensitivity, and utilizing technology, nurses will have the power to boost the plan’s efficiency and accessibility, hence their ability to make families more powerful and attain better results for deaf children.
References
Bussé, A. M., Mackey, A. R., Hoeve, H. L., Goedegebure, A., Carr, G., Uhlén, I. M., … & EUS€ REEN Foundation. (2021). Assessment of hearing screening programmes across 47 countries or regions I: provision of newborn hearing screening. International journal of audiology, 60(11), 821-830. https://doi.org/10.1080/14992027.2021.1886350
Ching, T. Y., & Leigh, G. (2020). Considering the impact of universal newborn hearing screening and early intervention on language outcomes for children with congenital hearing loss. Hearing, balance and communication, 18(4), 215–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/21695717.2020.1846923
Children’s Centre Thunder Bay. (n.d.). Infant Hearing Program. https://www.childrenscentre.ca/infanthearing-program
Deng, X., Gaffney, M., & Grosse, S. D. (2020). Early hearing detection and intervention in the United States: Achievements and challenges in the 21st century. China CDC Weekly, 2(21), 378. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7413595/
Neumann, K., Mathmann, P., Chadha, S., Euler, H. A., & White, K. R. (2022). Newborn hearing screening benefits children, but global disparities persist. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 11(1), 271. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11010271
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