Children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) require complex multidisciplinary care to achieve optimal developmental outcomes. OBJECTIVES: The present study aims to conduct a scoping review of research on Patient Navigation (PN) interventions designed to support DHH children and their families after identification of a hearing loss to determine the scope, models, and effectiveness of PN to improve access to care.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No immediate practice change; findings map the landscape of patient navigation programs for DHH children but do not yet provide tested protocols audiologists can adopt directly.
Patient navigation gaps remain a major barrier to timely, multidisciplinary care for deaf and hard-of-hearing children, and scoping the evidence base is a necessary first step toward scalable interventions.
- 01Scoping review of patient navigation interventions for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children and families.
- 02Focus on access to multidisciplinary care and optimal developmental outcomes.
- 03Scoping reviews map evidence but do not synthesize effect sizes or recommend specific programs.
- 04Published in Journal of Communication Disorders (doi: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2026.106679).
- 05Findings may inform future development of standardized navigation programs in pediatric audiology.
- PMID
- 42556112
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2026.106679.
- Journal
- Journal of Communication Disorders
- Publication type
- scoping_review
- Evidence level
- 2a
- Population
- Deaf and hard-of-hearing children and their families
- Intervention
- Patient navigation interventions for accessing multidisciplinary care
Primary outcomes
Types and features of patient navigation interventions; Access to multidisciplinary care; Developmental outcomes for DHH children