National Performance Indicators to Support Neonatal Hearing Screening in Australia

National Performance Indicators to Support Neonatal Hearing Screening in Australia

Child development Hearing

Around half the children born with hearing impairment have no identified risk factor for the condition. It is widely acknowledged that delays in the identification and treatment of permanent childhood hearing impairment may profoundly affect quality of life in terms of language acquisition, social and emotional development, and education and employment prospects. All states and territories in Australia have universal neonatal hearing screening. This working paper, by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), presents a set of performance indicators for monitoring neonatal hearing screening activity in Australia at a national level. National evaluation and monitoring provides a measure of how well neonatal hearing screening is achieving its aims and objectives and will enable strengthening of screening practices and administrative processes to further improve outcomes for Australian infants. (Report released by the AIHW on 25th November 2013)

Review of Ear Health and Hearing Among Indigenous Australians

Review of Ear Health and Hearing Among Indigenous Australians

Hearing

This review of ear health and hearing among Indigenous Australians has been prepared by the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet as a part of our contributions to ‘closing the gap’ in health between Indigenous people and other Australians, or as a pdf. The aim is to make relevant, high quality knowledge and information easily accessible to policy makers, health service providers, program managers, clinicians, researchers and the general community. The main purpose of the review, which follows the model of narrative reviews/syntheses , is to provide an authoritative, up-to-date review of ear health and hearing of Indigenous people that (1) is a valuable overview for people working in the area; and (2) assists in the development/refinement of policies, strategies and programs.