Press release from NDCS
“Researchers from three universities have teamed up in a bid to discover which questions matters most to the children affected by childhood deafness and hearing loss.
The research project, led by the听听in conjunction with researchers from听听补苍诲听听will survey people with experience of childhood deafness from across the UK.
The project is funded by the听听the University of Manchester, and PF Charitable Trust. It will also seek the views of professionals working with children and young people with hearing loss, such as audiologists, Teachers of the Deaf, educational audiologists, speech and language therapists, medics, and anyone else working with deaf children.
The team will then use the evidence gathered to compile a 鈥楾op 10鈥� of the most听important questions researchers should be trying to answer about childhood deafness and hearing loss.
Dr Anisa Visram, from the University of Manchester, said: 鈥淥ur goal is to find out which research questions really matter to parents and children affected by
childhood deafness, so that we, as a research community, can address those needs and create more opportunities in the future for deaf children.
鈥淭his research will also help to improve the partnership between researchers and听clinicians, which is vital to ensure the right research is carried out, and the results from that research are implemented for the benefit of patients.鈥�
Other organisations, including the听听,听,听听and听听are also involved in the project, which aims to capture a diverse range of feedback from across the UK.
鈥淲e want everyone to have the opportunity to get their voice heard and we really听want this community to stay together after this project has been completed so they鈥檙e able to continue sharing their ideas with researchers,鈥� Dr Visram added.
The research team will follow a process established by the James Lind Alliance, an听organisation which brings patients, carers and clinicians together for research. The James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnerships (PSPs) are well-established for helping researchers to understand what the research needs are of a given听community by pinpointing what is important to them.
By following the JLA PSP process to identify the 鈥楾op 10鈥� research priorities, future researchers on childhood deafness and hearing loss will be able to attract funding to find the answers to these important questions.
Ian Noon, Chief Policy Advisor with the National Deaf Children鈥檚 Society, said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e incredibly excited about this research partnership as it will provide parents with an opportunity to guide future research priorities for the organisations involved in this project into childhood deafness.
鈥淲e know that deaf children can achieve anything that their hearing peers can providing their deafness is identified at the earliest opportunity and when they receive the right and ongoing support. This is why research is crucial, as it provides a better understanding of the key issues deaf children face and support needed to remove barriers preventing all deaf children from reaching their full potential.鈥�
JLA PSPs have previously defined the 鈥楾op 10鈥� research priorities in several areas related to hearing loss, focussed on adults. But the needs of children with hearing loss are very different, so it is vital to understand what is important to families, so the research community can start to address them.
Dr Amanda Hall,听senior lecturer in听听at Aston University said:听鈥淲e are delighted to be working with the National Deaf Children’s Society and the James Lind Alliance to identify the research questions that are most important to children and young people with deafness and hearing loss, and their families. This means that funders and researchers can then focus their work on what matters most to this community.鈥�
Dr Hannah Stewart, lecturer in Developmental Psychology at Lancaster University said: 鈥淗aving a coherent set of priorities will make a huge difference to the under-researched field of children鈥檚 hearing. The fact that this project will cover all levels of hearing loss and all parts of the UK will give those priorities a much stronger foundation.鈥�
Parent co-applicant Juliet Viney said: 鈥淭his is such an exciting opportunity for deaf children, young people and their parents to be able to shape their own听鈥楾op 10鈥櫶齬esearch questions that really matter to them and help all deaf children achieve their full potential.鈥�
The first of two surveys will be launched in March 2024, and the whole project will run for 15 months. To find out more please contact听[email protected]“
