Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Braamfontein 2000, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Discipline of Audiology, School of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X54001, Durban, 4000, South Africa.
Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2021 Mar;142:110610. doi: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2021.110610. Epub 2021 Jan 3.
Pediatric deafness is an important consideration in neurodevelopment. Early identification and intervention are major factors in seeing that deaf children reach their full potential. Often, it is the medical professionals who themselves have limited knowledge about hearing loss or the consequences of delayed language acquisition. These knowledge gaps can negatively influence the timeous and holistic care that children with hearing loss require. With a dual experiential expertise gained through both parenting children with disabling hearing loss and being medical doctors, the purpose of this study was to better understand the field of pediatric hearing loss through doctors' insights gained as parents.
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was the approach used for this qualitative enquiry. Five South African participants with children between the ages of two and ten years, were selected using purposive sampling and an in-depth semi-structured interview used as the data instrument. Thereafter, three levels of thematic analysis were conducted.
Generally, doctors have limited knowledge of pediatric deafness. Perceptions towards deafness are typically through a medical-model lens, while appreciation of Universal Newborn Hearing Screening is lacking. Through exploring the various gains of parenting a deaf child, participants acknowledged the power of the lived experience in changing their own practice as both parents and practitioners.
Doctors need to know more about pediatric deafness. The pathway of care from identification to intervention in South Africa needs revision. Exposure to the lived experience is a powerful means of enabling expert insights to influence such change in a practical and meaningful way.
小儿耳聋是神经发育的一个重要考虑因素。早期识别和干预是确保耳聋儿童充分发挥潜力的重要因素。通常，正是那些对听力损失或语言延迟获取的后果知之甚少的医疗专业人员。这些知识差距会对听力损失儿童所需的及时和全面的护理产生负面影响。本研究的目的是通过医生作为父母的见解，更好地了解小儿听力损失领域，作者具有通过养育失聪儿童和作为医生获得的双重经验专长。
本研究采用解释性现象学分析方法进行定性研究。使用目的抽样选择了五名年龄在 2 至 10 岁之间的南非参与者，并使用深入的半结构式访谈作为数据工具。然后，进行了三个层次的主题分析。
一般来说，医生对小儿耳聋的了解有限。对耳聋的看法通常是通过医学模式的视角，而对普遍新生儿听力筛查的认识则缺乏。通过探索养育聋儿的各种收获，参与者承认生活体验的力量可以改变他们作为父母和从业者的实践。
医生需要更多地了解小儿耳聋。南非从识别到干预的护理途径需要修改。接触生活体验是一种有力的手段，可以使专家见解以实际和有意义的方式影响这种变化。
