Cochlear implant patients receiving postoperative care via a remote online service trialled by our University have shown significant improvements.
Our Auditory Implant Service which designed, implemented and evaluated the long-term follow-up pathway for people with cochlear implants hopes that the results lead to an even more patient-centred and efficient service.
The 60 patients taking part in the six-month trial were either offered their usual appointment schedule, which requires visiting the University-based service in person, or given access to the online service.
This gave them remote access to self-adjustment of devices and a personalised online intervention package for testing their own hearing with access to rehabilitation, troubleshooting and training at home.
Project Lead Dr Helen Cullington, Clinical Scientist at the University’s Auditory Implant Service and lead author of a paper exploring the findings published in the journal BMJ Open, explained:
“We are working to make the cochlear implant care pathway person-centred and provide a more efficient service to allow quicker identification of problems,
“We would like to move to a model where patients, clinicians and families decide together when an appointment is needed, rather than the clinic-centred routine appointment schedule.”
The Health Foundation funded the pilot study, going on to award a further £500,000 last autumn through its Scaling Up Improvement programme to continue to evaluate and expand the service across the UK.
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Find out more about the Auditory Implant Service’s work here.
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