The Georgia Department of Human Resources, Division of Public Health, has published a resource guide for families with infants or children affected by hearing loss. The guide – developed with input from parents, professionals and the State Advisory Committee for Newborn Hearing Screening – provides families with basic and unbiased information regarding hearing loss, its effects and implications, as well as linkages to professionals, programs, and services.

“Most people know very little about hearing loss unless someone else in their family is hearing impaired,” said Dr. Stuart Brown, director of the Division of Public Health. “This resource guide was written to help parents with their questions and concerns about their child’s hearing loss, and to help them find services and more information.”

The state’s Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention (UNHSI) program maintains and supports a comprehensive, coordinated, statewide hearing screening and referral system. UNHSI includes screening for hearing loss in the birthing hospital, referral of those who don’t pass to diagnostic audiological evaluation, and linkages to appropriate intervention for those babies diagnosed with hearing loss. During 2005, 98 percent of Georgia newborns were screened for hearing loss – over 133,000 babies.

Health officials say the most crucial period for language development is the first year of life. Without newborn screening, hearing loss is typically not identified until two years of age. Universal screening for all newborns prior to discharge from the hospital or birthing center is essential for the earliest possible identification of hearing loss and, consequently, for language, communication, and educational potential to be maximized.

The Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention program was begun in Georgia in 1999 to address and mitigate the often life-long educational and social deficits that can be associated with hearing loss. The UNHSI program established Children 1st as the follow-up system for newborn hearing screening; all of Georgia’s 18 Public Health Districts have designated a UNHSI liaison within their community to handle collaborations with partners and providers, and to follow-up on newborns that did not pass the hearing screening. Since the program began, the statewide screening rate for all babies prior to discharge increased from about 30 percent in 1999 to 98 percent by 2004.

In addition, in 2003, suspected and confirmed cases of hearing loss (birth to age five) became a notifiable condition in Georgia, which mandated reporting of such cases to the Division of Public Health. The Division established a definition for reportable hearing impairment in children, and developed a mechanism for reporting that allows for epidemiological surveillance of hearing loss, and helps assure children are linked with appropriate follow-up services. In 2004, 326 infants were tracked to an audiological evaluation, while in 2005, 385 have been; between 400 and 500 infants with hearing loss are identified through the UNHSI program in Georgia each year.

More information about the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention program, as well as Georgia’s Resource Guide for Families of Children with Hearing Loss, is available on the Division of Public Health web site at http://health.state.ga.us/programs/unhs/. Families and professionals may request copies of the resource guide by contacting Akilah Heggs, UNHSI Program Coordinator, at 404-463-2192 or akheggs@dhr.state.ga.us.

login to post comments