How SLPs Can Use Communication Strategies to Improve Health Care Access

Hear stories from home health SLPs working in three different regions across the country. As more patients choose to receive care at home, SLPs working in the city of Baltimore, the suburbs of Atlanta, and in a rural part of the Midwest share how the places they work influence the ways they provide services and care.Central to the conversation are social determinants of health, the sometimes unseen environmental and social factors that can influence our health. You’ll hear these factors in the stories of each of today’s guests.Transcript

In this panel discussion, guests address how SLPs can empower themselves to effectively provide their services cross-linguistically. The guests share stories of their personal and professional connections to multilingualism, demonstrating the link between language, identity, and their work.Transcript

SLP Jerry Hoepner discusses the ways SLPs can help patients address barriers to care and connection following a traumatic brain injury.A professor at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, Hoepner studies the experiences of people with TBIs and their interactions with health care providers. As a part of his research, he’s gathered and published observations from people who have experienced brain injuries. He shares what he’s learned from that research, highlighting the chronic phase of care and the powerful role of conversation groups for those with TBIs.Transcript

SLPs Meg Lico and Kaitlin Hanley from NYU Langone Health share their story of working with Aaron James, the recipient of what’s being billed as the first ever full-eye and partial-face transplant. They describe how they worked with James to reach his goals, such as eating solid foods with his family.Central to the story is their collaboration and the interdepartmental communication that made success possible. The SLPs provide details about approaching this unique case, as well as their victories, memorable moments, and the emotions they had along the way.At the end of the conversation, hear from James and his wife Meagan.Transcript

We’re delving into new research addressing the where and the who of hearing loss in the U.S.Principal investigator David Rein, of NORC at the University of Chicago, and audiologist Nick Reed, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, discuss the Sound Check project. This research initiative includes new estimates of bilateral hearing loss and an interactive map that presents the data by state, county, and more.Hear the researchers observe trends and share takeaways from this comprehensive look at hearing loss in the U.S.Transcript

An audiologist and SLP discuss working together to assist patients with mild TBI and tinnitus.At the center of their collaboration is addressing the cognitive load in patients who have both tinnitus and the injury. Find out why and how the duo decided to join together to help these patients, and what they do differently now.Transcript

In this second part of our conversation with SLP and health services researcher Jen Oshita, she expands on strategies people with communication disabilities can use to express themselves and more fully participate in their own health care.Hear why Oshita feels SLPs play a pivotal role in improving health care equity for these patients, and what organizations can do to increase communication access.Plus, hear from patients and care partners, including personal accounts from Hari Kannan, Vidya Thirumalai, and Lyn Piper.Transcript

SLP and health services researcher Jen Oshita provides strategies SLPs can share with people with communication disabilities to facilitate effective communication in health care. She discusses how communication access in health care interactions can contribute to health disparities, and she addresses barriers to care related to communication, such as rushed appointments with providers or the use of confusing medical jargon.Throughout this conversation, we’ll hear from patients and care partners as they share their experiences with the health care system, including advocate Matthew LeFluer and health communications strategist Karen Hilyard, who shares strategies as well.Transcript

John Hendrickson is a writer and senior editor at The Atlantic where, four years ago, he began to write about stuttering, penning an article about now-President Joe Biden's relationship with speech disfluency. Hendrickson’s memoir “Life on Delay” is a personal expansion, exploring the author's own life experiences with stuttering. On the podcast, he discusses his book, publicly disclosing he is a person who stutters, and addresses media representations of speech disfluency. This is ASHA Voices’ third conversation featuring authors discussing their lives as people who stutter. All conversations feature special guest co-host and SLP Chaya Goldstein-Schuff of the Sisskin Stuttering Center and the StutterTalk podcast.

ASHA Voices is ringing in the new year with a preview of 2024 and some highlights from 2023.