Professor Suzanne Purdy
|
School of Psychology, Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland, NZ
Suzanne Purdy MSc PhD DipAud CNZM (Te Rarawa, Ngāi Takoto) is a Professor in the School of Psychology at Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland, Co-Director of the Faculty of Medical and Health Science Eisdell Moore Centre for Hearing and Balance Research (EMC), Mātauranga Māori module lead for Te Tītoki Mataora | MedTech Research Translator, and Principal Investigator and Māori Advisory Board Member for the Centre for Brain Research. Suzanne is an Honorary Member of the NZ Audiological Society (NZAS) and a member of the NZAS Paediatric Technical Advisory Group (PTAG). Her research spans communication science, with a focus on auditory perception, auditory electrophysiology, indigenous ear and hearing healthcare, and singing and auditory interventions for people living with neurological conditions such as stroke and mild cognitive impairment. |
|
Achieving Equity in Ear and Hearing Healthcare for Tamariki in Aotearoa
In Aotearoa a range of factors contribute to inequalities in ear and hearing health outcomes (Taylor et al., 2025). Māori and Pacific children experience treatment delays following hearing loss diagnosis after referral from newborn hearing screening and are less likely to receive before-school-check (B4SC) hearing screening at 4 years (Oliver et al., 2022). They are also less likely to receive timely treatment for otitis media with effusion (McCallum et al., 2015). Our early research on hearing health pathways was prompted by an ORL/Audiology service recall of children who received a faulty newborn hearing screening. This recall revealed significant numbers of preschool-aged children with undetected hearing loss who would not otherwise have been identified. This was predominantly due to middle ear disease, although the recall also revealed cases of late-identified permanent sensorineural hearing loss (Dickinson et al., 2018). Research and clinical initiatives since then have identified a range of community-based and screening pathway solutions that address current inequities and could potentially reduce the gaps in screening and diagnostic ear and hearing services for Māori and Pacific tamariki.
