Parents' perceptions of an emerging community-based newborn hearing screening program: A case study

Thirty-six parents of 106 children (34% response rate) born between March 2000 and February 2003 retrospectively completed the "Probe of Parents' Perceptions: An Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Outcome Measure" (PPP) assessing their participation in an emerging community-based newborn hearing screening program (NHSP) involving three hospitals in Santa Barbara County, California. The PPP, an 11-item questionnaire (in both English and Spanish versions), asks parents about their impressions of the explanations of the purpose of the screening and of the results, and the referral process. The parents were generally positive about all phases of the NHSP; nearly all parents said the program had no negative effects on their ability to bond with their babies, and they would recommend NHSPs to others. These parents' positive impressions in this case study of an emerging community/private practice-based NHSP were consistent with those from studies involving parents participating in hospital-based programs.