LEND Audiology Trainee Policy Workshop

Under the heading of lessons learned, the trainees discovered that there are common issues concerning with newborn hearing screening across many states. But they also learned that each state is unique in some aspect of programmatic needs, funding, reporting, and networking. In the discussion sessions, they also had the opportunity to learn and understand the need for grassroots advocacy, and develop their own techniques and strategies for promoting advocacy at both the state and federal levels.

Trainees also had the opportunity to network and become acquainted with other trainees from different states and to discuss the role of LEND programs in advocacy efforts. Trainees came away with an understanding of the "big picture" of policy development and legislation that supports funding of policies, and how each of them can impact legislation in "small ways" through grassroots advocacy.

The primary challenges were time and competition. There was more than enough material and discussion to fill the allotted two hours. Several trainees stated that they wished there was more time to carry out the discussions in more detail. The policy workshop was also in competition with other very high quality EHDI meeting sessions occurring at the same time. For some, it was a hard choice in deciding what to attend.

Special thanks to the following LEND Audiology faculty members for their assistance in planning this workshop: Robert Fifer (University of Miami), Sandra Gabbard (University of Colorado), Lisa Mancl (University of Washington), Jackson Roush (University of North Carolina), Diane Sabo (University of Pittsburgh), and Anne Marie Tharpe (Vanderbilt University).

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