Cochlear Implants: Are Expectations for Outcomes Related to How Parents Are Informed?

Cochlear implants are surgically implanted devices that help restore hearing in individuals with severe to profound hearing loss. Children are receiving cochlear implants at younger ages, necessitating that parents make decisions regarding this process. Parental decision making and how parents are informed or educated about cochlear implants prior to surgery has been shown to be multifaceted. Also important to note is that requirements for candidacy to receive a cochlear implant often include realistic parental expectations for outcomes. In this study, four parents of children with cochlear implants responded to questionnaires to examine if how parents were educated and informed prior to the surgery affected their expectations for outcomes for their children. Three questionnaires, Education and Information Prior to Implantation, the Cochlear Implant Expectations Questionnaire, and the Cochlear Implant Outcomes Questionnaire were administered. The four participants in this study all reported having high expectations for their children. In addition, each participant reported being educated or informed in a variety of ways and that an audiologist provided them with both the most and the most useful information about cochlear implants. Further research with a greater number of participants would give professionals an improved understanding of how educational and informational processes affect parental expectations