Moepeng Meshack, Singh Shajila, Ramma Lebogang
Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Division of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Department of Audiology, Princess Marina Hospital, Gaborone, Botswana.
J Public Health Afr. 2025 May 9;16(1):1239. doi: 10.4102/jphia.v16i1.1239. eCollection 2025.
School-based hearing screening programmes play an important role in identifying and providing appropriate intervention services to children with progressive, late-onset, or acquired hearing loss.
To describe the knowledge and perspectives of government stakeholders within the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and Skills Development on the implementation of school entry hearing screening programmes in Botswana.
The study was conducted in two administrative districts: Gaborone and the South-East District, Botswana.
A qualitative descriptive design was used. Fifteen key government stakeholders, including policymakers and service providers (audiologists, nurses, Grade 1 teachers), were purposefully sampled. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with each stakeholder. All audio recordings were transcribed verbatim. Reflexive thematic analysis was performed with the assistance of NVivo 12 software.
There was variable knowledge of policy with most of the service providers not being aware of the existing current national school health policy. All stakeholders interviewed demonstrated universal support for implementation of the policy in relation to school-based hearing screening. Some service providers suggested that hearing screening services could be integrated into existing school health programmes. Barriers and facilitators for policy implementation were also identified.
Stakeholders' knowledge and support of the school health policy suggest that there is potential for the implementation of school-based hearing screening programmes.
This study created awareness of a provision for school hearing screening in an existing policy that had not been implemented. The findings present an opportunity for advocating for the implementation of school hearing screening programmes.
基于学校的听力筛查项目在识别和为患有进行性、迟发性或获得性听力损失的儿童提供适当干预服务方面发挥着重要作用。
描述博茨瓦纳卫生部和教育与技能发展部内政府利益相关者对实施入学听力筛查项目的认识和看法。
该研究在博茨瓦纳的两个行政区进行：哈博罗内和东南区。
采用定性描述性设计。有目的地抽取了15名关键政府利益相关者，包括政策制定者和服务提供者（听力学家、护士、一年级教师）。对每个利益相关者进行了半结构化访谈。所有录音都逐字转录。在NVivo 12软件的协助下进行了反思性主题分析。
对政策的了解存在差异，大多数服务提供者不知道现行的国家学校卫生政策。所有接受采访的利益相关者都对实施基于学校的听力筛查政策表示普遍支持。一些服务提供者建议听力筛查服务可以纳入现有的学校卫生项目。还确定了政策实施的障碍和促进因素。
利益相关者对学校卫生政策的了解和支持表明实施基于学校的听力筛查项目具有潜力。
本研究提高了人们对一项尚未实施的现有政策中学校听力筛查规定的认识。研究结果为倡导实施学校听力筛查项目提供了机会。
