Why do we need a pediatric fitting mode?
Taking into account that the needs of children vary with their age and degree of hearing loss, in 2006 Phonak pioneered the industry’s first dedicated pediatric fitting mode. Depending on the age of a child, fitting may require a different workflow and hearing instrument configuration. The highlights of the Junior Mode are the following: evidence-based software defaults for children aged 0-4, 5-8 and 9-18 years; FM+M as the start-up program and printable, tailored material for parents, caregivers, teachers and the children themselves.
Can I change the Junior defaults?
All defaults can be customized to match your fitting needs. Dollaghan (2007) points out that evidence-based practice should encompass not only external resources, such as peer-reviewed research but should also be based on the clinician’s experience and expertise combined with the preferences of an informed parent or family member. In an article on pediatric hearing aid verification (2008), McCreery states that sometimes there is limited availability of research evidence. This is due to the heterogeneity of hearing impaired children using hearing instruments and the fast pace of technological development. For this reason, all of the Junior Mode defaults are easily customizable within the Junior Mode.
The purpose of the Junior reports is to facilitate your work and empower children, families, caregivers and teachers. Junior reports provide individualized information on the child’s hearing loss, the settings and special features of the hearing system and more. Furthermore, the Junior reports give in-depth information on a wide range of relevant topics such as everyday communication tips and hearing aid maintenance.
How can you support parents, teachers and children with the Junior reports?
Parents, caregivers and teachers often express the need for handouts, they appreciate being able to review certain topics while at home or at school. Therefore, separate reports for parents, teachers and children are available on a variety of highly relevant topics. The reports facilitate the dialogue in a child's ongoing multidisciplinary re-/habilitation process and everyday support.
