A Telethon Kids Institute researcher and Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) audiologist is hoping to discover whether telehealth technology and community-based Aboriginal health workers might be keys to reducing high rates of hearing loss in urban Aboriginal children.
Dr Chris Brennan-Jones is embarking on a study that should streamline the provision of routine audiology and ear, nose and throat (ENT) services for these children.
The goal of the project is to hasten the detection and treatment of children with Otitis Media (OM) – a group of middle-ear infections and the leading cause of childhood hearing loss.
Image: B. Welleschik [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Despite the potential consequences of untreated OM, wait times for routine audiology and ENT assessments for children in Western Australia’s public health system can be up to two and a half years.
As about half of Aboriginal children aged six to 24 months are already affected by OM and hearing loss, finding new ways of identifying and treating these children earlier is vital.
As part of this project, selected children from two south metropolitan areas of Perth will be screened in their communities by Aboriginal ear health ‘champions’ who have been trained to conduct routine audiology and ENT tests.
The results of these tests will be sent to a team of PMH ear health specialists who will review the results and, where necessary, develop treatment plans.
Families of children requiring treatment will be given the option of getting the plan from their local ear-health champion or via a live telehealth consult with the PMH team.