SBIR-STTR Award

KDH Research & Communication (KDHRC) proposes to develop Cochlear Implant University (CIU) website, a self-advocacy training tool for high school and college students with CIs (SWCIs) aged 16 to 21 and their parents to develop self-advocacy knowledge and skills that support a successful academic and social transition to higher education (HE). CIU's primary aim is to increase SWCI's: knowledge on HE transition topics, such as their legal rights, positive attitudes towards self-advocating in HE environments, self-efficacy to self-advocate, and intentions to self-advocate - all precursors of self-advocacy skills development. Parental support is correlated with SWCI academic and social success, therefore CIU's secondary aim is to increase SWCI parents' knowledge about and self-efficacy and intentions to support their children on HE transition topics, such as how to apply for HE classroom accommodations. CIU addresses a pressing need. Increasing numbers of SWCI are entering HE and preliminary data indicate that they experience myriad academic and social challenges compared to their hearing peers, such as high dropout rates and poor academic and social outcomes. However, there is a lack of self-advocacy programs specific to SWCI and the HE transition. Experts are calling for evidence-based programs to develop a core set of self-advocacy knowledge and skills which may mitigate these challenges and support a successful HE transition. CIU will meet this need as a unique resource in the field. At the completion of this project, we will have a prototype website, consisting of SWCI and parent contents on core transition topics, such as applying for HE accommodations, understanding legal rights, and self- advocating in academic and social situations. Phase II will add interactive components and additional topics. The feasibility evaluation will explore the extent to which exposure to the CIU prototype changes SWCI knowledge on HE transition topics, positive attitudes towards self-advocating in HE environments, self-efficacy to self-advocate, and intentions to self-advocate, and parents' knowledge about and self-efficacy and intentions to support their children on HE transition topics. Taken together, CIU and its feasibility results aim to develop SWCI and parent self-advocacy knowledge and skills that support a successful academic and social transition to HE and establish CIU's feasibility for further development in Phase II.

Public Health Relevance Statement:


Public Health Relevance:
CIU meets a pressing need. Increasing numbers of students with cochlear implants (SWCI) are entering higher education but both they and their parents lack the self-advocacy knowledge and skills for a successful academic and social transition. CIU will address this problem by using a state-of-the-art, evidence-based, website to increase SWCI's knowledge on HE transition topics, positive attitudes towards self-advocating in HE environments, self-efficacy to self-advocate, and intentions to self-advocate. CIU will also increase parents' knowledge about and self-efficacy and intentions to support their children on HE transition topics. CIU will be the only self-advocacy training tool of its kind and thereby innovatively meets calls for interventions to ameliorate these transition challenges for this vulnerable population.

Project Terms:
Address; Adult; Advertising; Advocacy; Advocate; aged; base; Child; Cochlear Implants; Collaborations; college; Communication Research; Consumption; Data; Decision Making; Development; disability; Dropout; Educational aspects; Elements; Environment; Evaluation; Evaluation Reports; evidence base; Evidence based program; experience; Exposure to; Faculty; Funding; Happiness; Hearing; Hearing Impaired Persons; high school; Implant; Institution; interest; Internet; Intervention; kindergarten; Knowledge; Language; Language Development; Learning; Legal Rights; Mediation; meetings; Operative Surgical Procedures; Outcome; Parents; peer; Phase; Process; programs; prototype; public health medicine (field); public health relevance; Research; Research Infrastructure; Resources; Schools; Self Assessment (Psychology); Self Efficacy; Self-Help Devices; Services; skills; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; social; sound; Special Education; Specialist; Statistical Models; Students; success; Testing; Text; Time; tool; Training; twelfth grade; United States; Universities; university student; Vulnerable Populations; web site; Writing

KDH Research & Communication (KDHRC) submits this Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) application to expand and fully evaluate Cochlear Implant University (CIU). CIU is an online, self- advocacy skills-building resource for high school and college students with cochlear implants (CIs) aged 16-21 and their parents. CIU seeks to develop high school and college students? self-advocacy knowledge and skills to support a successful academic and social transition into higher education. The need for CIU is great. Increasing numbers of students with cochlear implants are entering higher education and experience myriad academic and social challenges compared to their hearing peers. These challenges in turn predict higher risk for dropout rates, poor academic and social outcomes, and may lead to underemployment or unemployment. There is a lack of self-advocacy programs specific to students with CIs and the higher education transition. To address this gap and to meet calls to action for evidence-based programs to help students develop a core set of self-advocacy skills to support a successful higher education transition, KDHRC developed and evaluated the CIU prototype. In collaboration with the AG Bell, our Phase I efforts yielded a strong prototype with supportive feasibility results and solid partnerships on which we base our Phase II approach. Leading hearing loss advocacy organizations, Alexander Graham Bell Association (AG Bell) and the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), provide support for evaluation, recruitment, and commercialization of the finished program throughout Phase II and beyond. In Phase II, we will develop additional interactive content, film video vignettes, and finalize CIU. Then, we will conduct a well-powered and methodologically strong four-week, three-condition controlled randomized trial to test CIU?s effectiveness. Our market research suggests a significant need and eager market, and support from myriad stakeholders committed to CIU scientific rigor and rapid dissemination further substantiate CIU?s importance and commercial potential.

Thesaurus Terms:
Address; Advocacy; Advocacy Organizations; Advocate; Age; Age Group; Aged; Americas; Arm; Base; Behavior Change; Cellular Phone; Cochlear Implants; Collaborations; College; Commercialization; Communication Research; Computers; Data; Development; Devices; Disability; Dropout; E-Learning; Educational Process Of Instructing; Effectiveness; Employment; Enrollment; Evaluation; Evaluation Reports; Evidence Base; Evidence Based Program; Experience; Exposure To; Feedback; Film; Happiness; Health; Hearing; Hearing Impairment; High Risk; High School; High School Student; Higher Education; Home Environment; Improved; Innovation; Interest; Internet; Journals; Knowledge; Lead; Learning; Legal Rights; Link; Literature; Market Research; Mediation; Medical Students; Methodology; Mobile Application; Online Resource; Outcome; Parents; Peer; Peer Review; Persons; Phase; Phase 2 Testing; Probability; Programs; Prototype; Public Health; Publications; Publishing; Randomized Controlled Trials; Recruit; Resources; Rights; Risk; Running; Self Efficacy; Self Perception; Skills; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; Social; Solid; Student Participation; Student Training; Students; Success; Symposium; Tablets; Technology; Telephone; Testing; Text; Time; Underemployment; Unemployment; Universities; University Student; Web App; Web Site;