Journal of Communication Disorders, Deaf Studies & Hearing Aids
Open Access

Family-centered care in children with hearing loss

International Conference and Expo on Audiology and Hearing Devices

August 17-18, 2015 Birmingham, UK

Mansoureh Nickbakht

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: Commun Disord Deaf Stud Hearing Aids

Abstract :

Congenital hearing loss might have devastating impacts on children’s social skills since it is regarded as a communication
disorder. Family-centered care (FCC) is a new method that focuses on empowering parents by enhancing positive parent–child
interactions. The goal of FCC is to create a balanced partnership with families so that they could participate in all aspects of evaluation
and therapy sessions. Each family is believed to be unique and fully familiar with children’s needs. Therefore, they should play an
active role in rehabilitation programs. One useful strategy is to identify and treat children with hearing loss by engaging their family
in various aspects of child care, matching the rehabilitation process with family goals, supporting and facilitating choice of child care
approaches for families, and ensuring flexibility in organizational policies, procedures and practices, so that services could be adapted
to the cultural values of each family. Families should be allowed to get involved in the intervention process to the extent that they
desire. Family-centered services improve parents’ satisfaction with the services, help families to identify and successfully rely on their
capabilities, reduce parental stress, and produce positive outcomes for children.