Hearts for Hearing

PROJECT PURPOSE

No matter where in Oklahoma a person -- child or adult ? resides, no matter their socio-economic circumstance or educational attainment; every person deserves access to quality hearing care. Hearts for Hearing?s proposed program expands capacity by offering additional facilities and mobile services, greater connectivity through technology upgrades, counseling and other social services targeting vulnerable populations, and ? in collaboration with the State Health Department - a comprehensive state-of-the-art Newborn Hearing Screening program available to hospitals across Oklahoma. Approximately 150 newborns in Oklahoma are diagnosed with hearing loss annually - 85% to two parents with typical hearing. Given choice, parents most often choose listening and talking for their child. Early diagnosis, advanced hearing technology, and speech therapy make it possible to teach children born deaf to listen and talk. Children receiving our care enter elementary school listening and talking on par with their typical hearing peers. Studies indicate a lifetime cost-avoidance of more than $4.3 million per child in social services for those families choosing listening and spoken language. Demand for adult services, which we provide, are rising dramatically because mask-wearing raised awareness among adults of their reliance on lip-reading to communicate. More adults are recognizing a need for hearing devices.

EVIDENCE

Hearts for Hearing?s annual Impact Report to Legislators and Donors is a source of information outlining service line trends, volume/growth, total number of patients served, newborns screened, Oklahoma counties served, total number of children fitted with hearing technology, capital improvements, and cost avoidance of state provided social services. Newborn Hearing Screen services are validated through the Oklahoma State Health Department, and its reporting of completed newborn screens and lost to follow-up percentages through the Centers for Disease Control. Hearts for Hearing?s Board of Directors governs operations and ensures financial reporting, auditing practices, and service line results are properly executed.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

Effects of Covid-19 proved challenging for hearing-impaired patients. Mask wearing to prevent virus spread made it especially difficult for people who rely on lip-reading when communicating with others. Our project includes expansion of adult services to accommodate demand for care among senior adults who are now more aware of their need for hearing devices. Our core service-line teaching children born deaf to listen and talk has been impacted and valuable treatment time lost. Deafness is often one of several co-morbid conditions impacting children we serve. Easily accessed patient care therapy services and expanded resource guidance are part of proposed programming. 65% of our patients are Sooner Care families. Most children we serve are not eligible for vaccination yet. Many reside in rural areas lacking reliable broadband. Others do not have computers/mobile devices to accommodate virtual visits. Parents of many children we serve are essential workers; unable to attend appointments.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

Hearts for Hearing?s electronic record tracks health information, treatment activity, and demographics for performance measurement. Consistent reporting enables growth analysis, trend identification, and new/expanding services across all patients served. For Newborn Hearing Screens, our activity is reported through Oklahoma Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control for national benchmarking. Oklahoma screens 98% of newborns annually. Sadly, nearly 50% become classified ?lost to follow-up?. Often, these are newborns residing in rural areas, living in poverty or situations of neglect, speaking English as second language. Our program includes physical, mobile, technical, and professional infrastructure/expertise to reduce lost to follow-up percentages.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

One-time project will not need continued funding