Why integrated care matters

There’s a well-known saying that it takes a village to raise a child – and this couldn’t be more true for children with hearing, listening, speech, and language challenges.

These children rarely present with a single, isolated issue. Instead their needs often overlap across multiple areas of development, requiring coordinated support from a range of professionals, educators and family members.

Recently, Dr Azadeh Ebrahimi-Madiseh TSH Head of Hearing Services, explored this topic in an article published in the June 2026 issue of Audiology Now Magazine, developed by Audiology Australia.

Understanding the Bigger Picture

In her article, Dr Ebrahimi-Madiseh highlights that children with hearing, listening, speech, or language difficulties often experience a combination of:

• Developmental challenges
• Educational barriers
• Behavioural concerns
• Psychosocial impacts

These interconnected factors can influence not only how children access information and learn, but also how they participate in everyday activities and experience wellbeing – both in childhood and later in life.

The Importance of Integrated Care

Given the complexity of these needs, a fragmented approach to care is rarely effective. Instead, Dr Ebrahimi-Madiseh emphasises the importance of integrated care – where professionals work collaboratively rather than in isolation.

Integrated care shifts the focus away from “Who owns this problem?” to “How do we work together?”– ensuring that every aspect of a child’s development is supported in a coordinated, meaningful way.

Understanding Different Care Models

There are several approaches to how services can be delivered. Understanding their differences highlights why integrated models are so valuable:

Multidisciplinary Care: In a multidisciplinary model, several professionals are involved, but each works independently within their own area of expertise. While valuable, this approach can sometimes lead to siloed decision-making.

Interdisciplinary Care: Here, professionals collaborate more closely. They engage in shared planning, joint interpretation of information, and coordinated transitions between services, with clear roles and communication across the team.

Transdisciplinary Care: This model takes collaboration even further. Roles may be partially shared across disciplines following cross-training, with a strong focus on common goals. This allows for more seamless, flexible support centred around the child and family.

The Role of Families and Education

Dr Ebrahimi-Madiseh also underscores the critical role of both education systems and families in supporting children’s outcomes.

At TSH, we embrace a family-centred approach, recognising that families are at the heart of every child’s journey. By empowering families and working alongside educators and clinicians, we can create a more supportive, consistent environment for children to thrive.

A Collaborative Path Forward

Ultimately, children with hearing, speech, language, and listening needs benefit most when everyone involved – clinicians, educators, and families – works together.

Integrated care isn’t just a model – it’s a mindset. One that prioritises collaboration, shared understanding, and the long-term wellbeing of every child.

About Dr Azadeh Ebrahimi-Madiseh

Dr Azadeh Ebrahimi-Madiseh is the Head of Hearing Services at TSH, overseeing audiological service delivery. She is driven by her vision to serve our diverse community through innovative solutions and collaboration to improve accessibility and equality in healthcare. The combination of her big-picture thinking, academic rigor, and practical and ethical innovation encapsulates her commitment to advancing integrated and sustainable service delivery at the system level.

She has over two decades of experience working in multidisciplinary teams across continents. Since her tenure with TSH in 2021, alongside her team, she has reviewed and developed services across programs and clinics leveraging on her skills in human-centered service design, digital transformation, and data-driven decision-making to devise integrated, sustainable and innovative solutions.