Associate Professor and Associate Director – Academic Affairs, UBC School of Audiology and Speech Sciences
Please describe your most important contribution(s) to primary care research
As an audiologist, I mostly conduct research in allied health, but I am very proud of the work I’ve done alongside physicians and nurses in developing messages and strategies to support primary health providers in detecting and managing hearing health care for their older patients. I have recently completed an interdisciplinary, cross-jurisdictional scoping review of the literature regarding the role of communication between health care providers and communicatively-vulnerable patients for health outcomes. Our team included researchers, clinicians, patients, and knowledge users.
Please describe your current work or upcoming research projects related to primary care
I am currently working on a project together with Brenda Poon where we are conducting surveys and focus groups to identify how to empower primary care providers in BC to be instigators of change in hearing health care. The project has been funded by Vancouver Foundation and Michael Smith Health Research BC. We rely heavily on consultations with our community advisory group consisting of patients, primary care providers, and hearing health professionals.
What are the key messages from your primary care research to share with other stakeholders (e.g. clinicians, policymakers, patients)?
- Hearing health needs to be addressed within primary care, because often patients don’t know where to turn for help and will start with their physician. Physicians and nurse practitioners can play an important role in emphasizing the importance of hearing health and encouraging patients to seek help from audiologists, which may go well beyond the recommendation of hearing aids!
- The ways we communicate with our patients are important for health outcomes.
BC Primary Health Care Research Network 