Associate Professor, UBC School of Audiology and Speech Sciences
Senior Research Affiliate, Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility

ljenstad@audiospeech.ubc.ca

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.

Please describe your current work or upcoming research projects related to primary care
I am leading an interdisciplinary, cross-jurisdictional team of researchers, clinicians, and knowledge users in a scoping review of the literature regarding the role of communication between health care providers and patients/ caregivers for health outcomes. I am also working on methods to share the message about hearing health more broadly with physicians, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists across Canada.

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.