Speech, language and communication needs and mental health: the experiences of speech and language therapists and mental health professionals

Enablers and barriers for hearing parents with deaf children: Experiences of parents and workers in Wales, UK

BACKGROUND

More than 90% of deaf children are born to hearing families who know little about deafness. Benefits from hearing screening at birth are often lost, as families find little information about pathways for deaf children but are key to ensuring deaf children receive relevant language and communication support. Systems surrounding deaf children and family members are crucial for children's health and social development. Experiences of hearing parents raising deaf children and understanding factors that influence families' experience of navigating pathways for deaf children through health and education services are currently underreported.

METHODS

An exploratory study was conducted in Wales, UK. Twenty participants were interviewed, including 10 hearing parents of deaf children and 10 people who work with deaf children using semistructured interviews. Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory was used as a lens to explore the micro-, meso-, exo-, macro- and chronosystems that surround children and families. This study explores potential supports and barriers in those systems.

FINDINGS

Findings are reported under two broad headings: enablers and barriers. Under enablers, it was found that provision of resources, supporting people and knowledge were key factors. Under barriers, a lack of knowledge, lack of provision and battling services and attitudes were key issues that need addressing.

CONCLUSION

Hearing parents of deaf children in Wales, UK reported experiencing a range of enablers and barriers that impact upon their experiences of raising a deaf child. Further provision is needed by policymakers and governments to recognise support needs to improve the outcomes for deaf children.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

This project was developed from initial discussions with the stakeholder reference group and progressed with the group's deaf panel and hearing parents with deaf children. The project's steering group was involved in study design, recruitment and continuous feedback on all stages of the research process.

Identifying Methods to Select and Tailor Implementation Strategies to Context-Specific Determinants in Child Mental Health Settings: A Scoping Review

This scoping review describes the state of the literature regarding Implementation Strategy Mapping Methods (ISMMs) within the context of child mental health practice delivery. Goals included (a) identify and describe ISMMs addressing determinants of implementing mental health evidence-based interventions (MH-EBIs) for children and (b) describe the scope of the literature (e.g., outcomes, remaining gaps) related to identified ISMMs. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, 197 articles were identified. After removing 54 duplicates, 152 titles and abstracts were screened, yielding 36 articles that were screened during the full-text review. The final sample included four studies and two protocol papers (n = 6). A data charting codebook was developed a priori to capture relevant information (e.g., outcomes) and content analysis was utilized to synthesize findings. Six ISMMs were identified: innovation tournament, concept mapping, modified conjoint analysis, COAST-IS, focus group, and intervention mapping. ISMMs were successful in leading to the identification and selection of implementation strategies at participating organizations, and all ISMMs included stakeholders throughout these processes. Findings revealed the novelty of this research area and highlighted numerous areas for future investigation. Implications related to implementation, service, and client outcomes are discussed, including the possible impact of utilizing ISMMs to increase access to MH-EBIs for children receiving services in community settings. Overall, these findings contribute to our understanding of one of the five priority areas within implementation strategy research-enhancing methods used to design and tailor implementation strategies-by providing an overview of methods that may be utilized to facilitate MH-EBI implementation in child mental health care settings. Trial Registration: Not applicable.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43477-023-00086-3.