We have received the following message from Anisa Visram who is the Lead Research Audiologist on our national research project: “Improving clinical practice for babies with hearing loss”.
“About us:
- The study aims to develop new hearing tests for babies of 3-7 months, for whom reliable testing methods are currently lacking.
- A unique aspect of the study is that we visit families at (or close to) their homes to carry out the testing in our Mobile Research Unit, making the study accessible to families all over the UK (we’ve been as far as Inverness and Truro so far). This is where we get our often-referred-to nickname from – the ‘Ladies in the Van’.
We are trying our hardest to get as many babies with hearing loss involved in the study as possible to give us meaningful results that we can translate into clinical practice.
Our ethics approval allows for Teachers of the Deaf and other professionals to hand out family information packs. I would be really grateful if you and your teams would consider handing out information to eligible families.
The inclusion criteria:
-Baby under 7 months at start of study
-Baby has permanent bilateral hearing loss
-Baby fitted with hearing aids by the start of the study
Exclusion criteria:
-Caregiver has physical disability that prevents them being able to step up inside the van
-Baby has significant developmental delay that would affect behavioural hearing testing at around 9 months
I attach an information sheet for participants which you can print and hand out to families, directing them towards our contact details on the sheet should they wish to take part. If you are interested in getting the full information pack to hand out to families (also contains an invitation letter, reply slip and SAE), please get in touch with me ([email protected] / 07543 228 856) and I will send you some. I also attach a poster which can be put up in waiting rooms to direct families to the study, or handed to families directly alongside the participant information sheet. We are recruiting until March 2020.
Here is an information poster for waiting rooms and similar places.
Thanks so much for your help. Please do get in contact with me for any more information.
Best wishes
Anisa
—————————————————————-
Anisa Visram, PhD
Lead Research Audiologist (Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust)
Honorary Research Fellow (University of Manchester)
Room A3.14, Ellen Wilkinson Building, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL
0161 306 1754″
