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ERIC Number: EJ996544
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 10
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0042-8639
EISSN: N/A
TeleCITE: Telehealth--A Cochlear Implant Therapy Exchange
Stith, Joanna; Stredler-Brown, Arlene; Greenway, Pat; Kahn, Gary
Volta Review, v112 n3 p393-402 Win 2012
What might bring the efforts of a physician, a speech-language pathologist, a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing, and a nurse together? The answer is the innovative use of telepractice to deliver high quality, family-centered early intervention to infants and toddlers with hearing loss. TeleCITE: Telehealth--A Cochlear Implant Therapy Exchange--was a regional collaborative effort in a western region of the United States. This translational research project investigated the efficacy of providing children with hearing loss who have cochlear implants with high-quality therapy even when they live in remote or rural areas of a three-state region. A partnership of academic researchers, a nonprofit therapy center, and a technology consultant fostered collaborative mechanisms to document the need for this therapy service, to determine where services were needed, and to identify the technology to meet the need. The delivery of high-quality services through telepractice narrowed the gap, in a small way, between what is known based on the research advances cited here with what is actually possible. Therefore, the goal is to offer equitable therapeutic services to children living in geographically-challenged regions. At the beginning of the TeleCITE project, the authors hoped that professionals in the three-state region would be able to glean some useful information from these efforts. This pilot project determined ways to deliver therapy to children with hearing loss who have cochlear implants in their remote or rural communities; helped identify ways to support Listening and Spoken Language Specialist (LSLS) certified professionals who deliver telepractice services through appropriate, well-functioning hardware and software supported by adequate available bandwidth and network connectivity; and sought out effective means to engage teachers and therapists living in remote and rural communities. Each partner in this pilot project brought their unique clinical expertise, knowledge of technology, and consultative expertise to the table. Long-term plans have been made to apply what was learned about telepractice so that it may become a full-scale service delivery model.
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. 3417 Volta Place NW, Washington, DC 20007. Tel: 202-337-5220; Fax: 202-337-8314; e-mail: periodicals@agbell.org; Web site: http://www.agbell.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Colorado; New Mexico; Wyoming
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A