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Seashell Health teams work to facilitate healthcare with the needs of the individual at the forefront of decisions.
The audiology team have long been exploring innovative assessment techniques and rehabilitation approaches which offer flexibility, and support students to access audiological care.
Amongst the considerations, we support behaviours that challenge and physical disabilities both of which require environmental considerations and adaptations.
The service is supported by appropriate clinical protocols and flexible pathways and we have been able to provide students’ NHS service’s with important clinical information which could otherwise be obtained.
New School Build
Audiology access for children, young adults with complex needs, intellectual disabilities, Autism and ADHD has been widely considered within NHS departments in recent years.
NHS England are currently leading an agenda to close the inequality gap for children and young adults in special residential schools accessing hearing checks; audiology services across the country are making progressive steps and amendments to their services to support children, young adults and adults with complex needs.
The opportunity arose for a bespoke audiology suite to be built as part of The Moulding Foundation Building. By showcasing this journey we hope to inspire and demonstrate the facilitation of an inclusive audiology service.
The journey of the design of this suite demonstrates considerations, challenges and collaborative working with the child/young person at the centre of the decisions.
We were also able to demonstrate a trans-disciplinary approach across the necessary companies and professionals involved when building an audiology suite.
Collaboration
We invited specialist companies and representatives to come onsite and observe audiology sessions to understand the challenges, considerations and needs of the project.
In these initial meetings we sought consultation from professionals including Shaun Moore (IAC audiology test room design) to ensure the location for the booth was optimal within the school designs.
We also took into consideration acoustic noise and electrical interference in surrounding constructions, particularly due to the extensive specialist equipment and rooms designed into the overall build.
We also ensured space and ceiling height allowed for the soundproof booth to be installed effectively.
We engaged with Mike Anderton (TLC for Schools) to start discussions about the project. TLC specialise in bespoke multi-sensory environments.
Together with Natus (Audiology clinical equipment), and the project transformation lead Seashell, the trans-disciplinary team met frequently and each redesign was talked through in detail to understand the requirements of the various industry to ensure the work pulled together to fit the purpose.
With each meeting the collective looked through the plans for every aspect of the room, each profession put forward their ideas and challenges; collective decisions were made with the needs of the students being prioritised throughout the process.
Considerations & Challenges
Clinical appointments for children and young adults with complex needs/autism/ADHD host a number of challenges, ranging from transportation to clinical settings, waiting areas, staffing, inflexible clinical approaches and unsuitable pathways and protocols.
When designing this bespoke audiology suite we were able to use our specialist knowledge and work with a rich trans-disciplinary design team to create an inclusive setting.
Considerations
The purpose of the build was to create an audiology paediatric booth specifically designed to assess and manage hearing for children and young adults with complex needs. When discussing the challenges we consider those with:
- Visual Impairment/Multi Sensory Impairment (MSI)
- Physical Disabilities
- Autism
- Behaviours that challenge
- Barriers in communication
- Anxiety/Fear of examination
Challenges
Initially we were given with some key requirements to establish a solid foundation to the project:
- Finding a team who will work creatively and collaboratively for a shared goal.
- To work with innovation whilst ensuring the booth remains fit for purpose and in keeping with regulations of an audiology test room.
- Working to a specific space within a school (considering fire regulations etc.)
- The bringing together of expertise from complex needs specialist services and audiology specific equipment.
We made decisions with the specific cohort of students at Seashell in mind; what their needs are to be able to access an audiology clinic space and service.
“From the very outset Seashell’s Audiology & Transformation team engaged with IAC Acoustics to create a ground-breaking clinical testing environment for children and young adults with complex learning difficulties.
“Whilst all Paediatric audiology facilities are individually tailor-made to suit the client brief, the scheme for Seashell was exceptionally bespoke due to the complex needs of the students and requirement to address environmental and clinical testing challenges.
“Personally, from an IAC perspective, the final outcome is a result of what can only be described as “Collaborative Teamwork” by all parties involved, including Matt McCormack from Natus, Mike Anderton from TLC For Schools, and Seashell’s Principal Audiologist Verity Langlands and the Transformation Project Design Lead David Walker.
“It goes without saying that the facility for Seashell will not only be bespoke, butwill be the first of its kind with functional capabilities and unique testing environment for children and young adults with complex needs”.
– Shaun Moore (IAC), Sales Director & Project Consultant