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Biomedical subjects

Alys Young

Publications and source records attributed to Alys Young.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Informed choice and deaf children: underpinning concepts and enduring challenges.

This article concerns the first stage of a research and development project that aimed to produce both parent and professional guidelines on the promotion and provision of informed choice for families with deaf children. It begins with a theoretical discussion of the problems associated with the concept of informed choice and deaf child services and then focuses specifically on why a metastudy approach was employed to address both the overcontextualized debate about informed choice when applied to deaf children and the problems associated with its investigation in practice with families and professionals. It presents a detailed analysis of the conceptual relevance of a range of identified studies "outside" the field of deafness. These are ordered according to 2 main conceptual categories and 7 subcategories-(a) the nature of information: "information that is evaluative, not just descriptive"; "the difficulties of information for a purpose"; "the origins and status of information"; and "informed choice and knowledge, not informed choice and information" and (b) parameters and definitions of choice: "informed choice as absolute and relative concept", "preferences and presumptions of rationality", and "informed choice for whom?" Relevant deaf child literature is integrated into the discussion of each conceptual debate in order both to expand and challenge current usage of informed choice as applied to deaf children and families and to delineate possible directions in the planning of the next stage of the main project aimed at producing parent/professional guidelines.

Child↗
PubMed2005

Interprofessional working in the context of newborn hearing screening: Education and Social Services compare challenges.

This article presents data from a study undertaken as part of the national evaluation of the introduction of the newborn hearing screening programme (NHSP) in England. It considers the impact on Education and Social Services of NHSP from the perspective of how each agency perceives each other's role in circumstances where NHSP is requiring a greater focus on interagency and interprofessional working. The qualitative interview study involved 27 education and 15 social services respondents from phase 1 NHSP sites. It reveals considerable agreement on the poorly developed nature of joint working but considerable disagreement about the roots of such. Education is more likely to focus on issues of role, value and skills; social services on conflicts of ethos and culture. The problem of social services' capacity to respond to referrals concerning deaf children was common to both. The findings are placed in the context of government guidance, in particular Early Support and Children's Trusts, both of which support a strategic and statutory basis for interprofessional working in this context.

England↗
PubMed2005

Readiness of paediatric audiology services for newborn hearing screening: findings and implications from the programme in England.

As well as evaluating the newborn hearing screen itself, the government-funded evaluation of the implementation of a Newborn Hearing Screening Programme (NHSP) in England is assessing the impact of the screen on follow-up services. In the UK context, these are principally paediatric audiology, education, and social services. This article presents results from a mixed method research study involving paediatric audiology services specifically. Results demonstrate significant variety in current practice with regard to routine tests and procedures, considerable variability in number of current referrals and time allocated to caseloads, and considerable variability in expectations of how the numbers will change following newborn screening implementation. The challenges of and opportunities afforded by NHSP which were identified by respondents, highlight the urgent need for further training. The study has implications for paediatric audiology services that are yet to start NHSP in the UK, as well as for services and professionals in other countries.

Audiology↗
PubMed2005

Parents' of deaf children evaluative accounts of the process and practice of universal newborn hearing screening.

This article presents results from a narrative interview study of 45 parents/caregivers whose infants were correctly identified as deaf through Phase 1 of the Newborn Hearing Screening Programme in England. It concerns the period from the first screening event to the point of referral for audiological assessment. It focuses on the meanings parents attribute to the inconclusive message that the screen delivers and analyzes what it is that differentiates parents for whom such an outcome raises little concern from those who express dissatisfaction. Parents' evaluations of specific features of screening practice and process such as communication style and manner are also considered. It ends with a discussion of the status and validity of parents' accounts within the context of an evaluation of a national screening program and the further development of professional practice.

Audiology↗
PubMed2004

To what extent do the characteristics of the object of evaluation influence the choice of epistemological framework? The case of universal newborn hearing screening.

In this article, the authors explore the role that characteristics and circumstances attendant on the object of an evaluation might play in the choice of epistemological framework underpinning research design. They consider examples from the consumer-focused evaluation of the introduction of universal newborn hearing screening in England. In particular, they look at how screen- and program-specific issues exerted influence at the levels of epistemology and method, arguing that these choices are not simply a product of values and questions that underpinned one kind of approach to knowledge production in comparison with another.

Choice Behavior↗