Early diagnosis is crucial for infants with hearing loss, but access to specialized services can be challenging for some families. This study piloted a student-facilitated teleaudiology model for infant diagnostics and investigated caregiver opinions of this service in Victoria, Australia.
Student-facilitated teleaudiology for infant diagnostic testing appears feasible and acceptable to caregivers in a pilot context; clinics considering expanding telehealth access for pediatric diagnostics can use these findings as early supporting evidence, but await larger controlled studies.
Teleaudiology delivered by supervised students could meaningfully reduce the access gap for infant hearing diagnostics, particularly in underserved or rural communities.
- 01Pilot study assessed caregiver satisfaction with student-run teleaudiology infant hearing diagnostic sessions.
- 02Published in the American Journal of Audiology, a peer-reviewed clinical journal.
- 03Model uses supervised audiology students to extend service reach via telehealth platforms.
- 04Findings are preliminary (pilot scale) and primarily capture caregiver experience, not diagnostic accuracy.
- 05Addresses a real access barrier: families unable to travel to audiology clinics for infant testing.
Caregivers report positive experiences with student-facilitated teleaudiology for infant diagnostic hearing testing.
studypartially supportedStudent-facilitated teleaudiology can address access barriers for families requiring infant diagnostic testing.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42294987
- DOI
- 10.1044/2026_AJA-25-00219.
- Journal
- American Journal of Audiology
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 4
- Population
- Caregivers of infants undergoing diagnostic hearing testing via teleaudiology
- Intervention
- Student-facilitated teleaudiology infant diagnostic hearing testing
Primary outcomes
Caregiver experiences and satisfaction with student-facilitated teleaudiology; Feasibility of teleaudiology for infant diagnostic hearing testing
