title: Deaf parents and pediatric cochlear implantation: an exploration of the decision-making process.
abstract: The study examined factors in deaf parents' decision between cochlear implantation (CI) and traditional hearing aids for their child. The subjects were 6 Flemish children ages 5-9 years with severe/profound congenital hearing loss, with at least 1 deaf parent. The researchers, who conducted thematic content analysis of qualitative data collected through parent interviews, found that with the exception of a family with 1 hearing parent, parents gave priority to Deaf identity, sign language, and ethical issues in deciding between CI and hearing aids. Medical risks were also mentioned. The researchers conclude that the decision-making processes of the parents involved factors that have also been found among hearing parents, as well as aspects that have not been reported to play a role in hearing parents' decision making. A further conclusion is that deaf parents' perspective merits attention in professional practice and empirical research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sociology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium. , stefan.hardonk@vub.ac.be
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hardonk
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Daniels
authors.forename: Greetje
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Desnerck
authors.forename: Gerrit
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Loots
authors.forename: Geert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Van Hove
authors.forename: Erwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Van Kerschaver
authors.forename: Hanna Björg
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Sigurjónsdóttir
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vanroelen
authors.forename: Fred
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Louckx
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019929:Cochlear Implantation / Q000941:ethics / Q000523:psychology*; D003638:Deafness / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery* / Q000628:therapy; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids / Q000941:ethics / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D012813:Sign Language