Document text
Principal Investigator: Christina Ruth Studts
Organization: UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
Fiscal Year: 2020
Award: $189,453
Funding agency: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
COVID-19 has unleashed a sudden and sustained disruption to usual healthcare and social milieu in the
United States, and of particular concern are deaf/hard of hearing (DHH) children who rely on hearing
healthcare and ancillary services for access to auditory language and other supports. Parents of DHH children
experience psychosocial pressures even in the best of times, including social isolation, parenting struggles,
and stress, all in the broader context of social determinants of health. These challenges have been com-
pounded by the spread of COVID-19 which has limited in-person contacts outside the home, including access
to hearing, speech, and language services. A swift response to this public health crisis is essential to inform
provision of services to DHH children and their families in the context of ongoing shifts in the social/healthcare
landscape. We will rapidly assess and disseminate timely information about COVID-19's effects on DHH chil-
dren and their families. In Aim 1, we will assess DHH child, parent, and family quality of life (QOL), as well as
hearing healthcare access and use during the first 10 months of this global pandemic. We will survey parents
of DHH children twice, six months apart, using the recently developed COVID-19 Exposure and Family Impact
Survey (CEFIS) and other measures. Our analyses will identify characteristics of DHH children and families
most negatively impacted by COVID-19. Following each survey wave, we will conduct rapid content analysis of
key informant interviews with parents reporting better and worse outcomes to obtain deeper insights. In Aim 2,
we will assess barriers and facilitators to service provision for DHH children during this public health crisis. We
will conduct key informant interviews with direct service providers and administrators and use rapid content
analysis to identify actionable multilevel barriers and facilitators they describe. In Aim 3, we will use a mixed-
methods design to integrate our findings at each timepoint, then rapidly disseminate them to stakeholders to
inform changes to practice and policy to meet the needs of DHH children and their families. We will use webi-
nars, social media, policy briefs, and other modalities most likely to reach a wide array of stakeholders. Im-
portantly, our research questions were developed with our Community Advisory Board (CAB), which guides
our ongoing NIDCD-funded R01. The CAB includes parents, direct service providers, and administrators who
are in key positions in state and local agencies and organizations across Kentucky, maximizing the chances
that our results will influence policies and services responsive to the needs of our target population. This study
is significant because it assesses the effects of COVID-19 on DHH children and their families using a rapid but
rigorous approach. It is innovative as one of the first studies to assess the effects of COVID-19 on families with
DHH children, a particularly vulnerable and often underrecognized population. Our results will impact the field
by demonstrating a rapid community-engaged research response to a public health crisis, and by strategically
disseminating findings in a timely manner to prioritize the needs of DHH children and their families.
Terms: <0-11 years old><2019 novel coronavirus><2019-nCoV><Access to Care><Acute><Address><Administrator><Affect><Age><Auditory><Behavior><COVID-19><COVID19><Caring><Characteristics><Child><Child Rearing><Child Youth><Children (0-21)><Collaborations><Communities><Data><Education><Educational aspects><Ethnic Origin><Ethnicity><Family><Funding><Future><Goals><Health Care Research><Health Services Accessibility><Healthcare><Hearing><Home><Home environment><Infrastructure><Interview><Kentucky><Language><Long-Term Effects><Longterm Effects><Measures><Methods><Minority><Modality><NIDCD><National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders><Outcome><Parenting><Parenting behavior><Parents><Participant><Pathologist><Persons><Policies><Population><Population Research><Population-based research><Population-level research><Position><Positioning Attribute><Provider><Public Health><Public Health Practice><QOL><Qualitative Methods><Quality of life><Race><Racial Group><Racial Stocks><Reporting><Research><Research Design><Research Methodology><Research Methods><Research Resources><Resources><SARS-CoV-2><SARS-CoV2><SARS-associated coronavirus 2><SARS-coronavirus-2><SARS-related coronavirus 2><Service provision><Services><Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2><Social Environment><Social isolation><Speech><Speed><Stress><Structure><Study Type><Survey Instrument><Surveys><Target Populations><Time><United States><Vulnerable Populations><Wuhan coronavirus><access to health care><access to health services><access to healthcare><access to services><access to treatment><accessibility of health care><accessibility to health care><accessibility to health services><accessibility to healthcare><ages><availability of services><base><care access><childrearing><children><childrens'><corona virus disease 2019><coronavirus disease 2019><deaf><deafened><design><designing><dissemination research><evidence base><experience><hard of hearing><health care><health care access><health care availability><health care service access><health care service availability><health service access><health services availability><healthcare access><healthcare accessibility><healthcare availability><healthcare research><healthcare service access><healthcare service availability><implementation research><informant><innovate><innovation><innovative><insight><low SES><low socio-economic position><low socio-economic status><low socioeconomic position><low socioeconomic status><meetings><member><news><pandemic><pandemic disease><pressure><profound hearing loss><prospective><psychosocial><qualitative reasoning><response><service availability><service providers><social><social climate><social context><social health determinants><social media><socioenvironment><socioenvironmental><study design><telehealth><treatment access><vulnerable group><webinar><youngster>