Childhood hearing loss profile, decentralised screening and outcomes in the Western Cape public healthcare system, South Africa

Abstract

In her thesis, Childhood hearing loss profile, decentralised screening and outcomes in the Western Cape public healthcare system, South Africa, the promovenda described the unique profile of childhood hearing loss in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, explored a decentralised model of hearing screening to improve accessibility, and evaluated hearing aid outcomes for children with sensorineural hearing loss from low-resourced contexts. Three themes emerged from the research: 1) The need to prioritise infant hearing screening in the public health sector alongside primary health care efforts to reduce preventable risks for hearing loss; 2) Decentralising hearing screening increases access to hearing healthcare, reduces patient travelling distances, and reduces the burden on tertiary-level hospitals; 3) Children with additional disabilities require multi-disciplinary support to realize sufficient benefit from hearing aid use. Overall, the thesis highlighted the importance of addressing barriers to timeous diagnoses of childhood hearing loss, improving access to hearing healthcare, and ultimately providing successful intervention with hearing technology in low-resourced contexts like South Africa.