In an ever-changing global landscape, it is pertinent that audiologists and speech-language pathologists “account for the complexity and diversity of healthcare contexts” (as stated in the second article by Pillay and Pillay). Pressing concerns related to advancing technology (artificial intelligence and machine learning), culturally responsive practice, and rapid climate change are all trending societal conversations. This SIG 17 self-study explores creative solutions to pressing global issues that impact the field of audiology and speech-language pathology. Topics presented include key ethical concerns regarding hearing aids with machine learning, a novel culturally responsive framework for contextualized clinical reasoning, and the impact of climate change on communication and swallowing disorders.

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• describe the three human data interaction principles applicable to confidentiality and privacy and how it relates to machine learning technology in hearing aids
• analyze the applicability of the contextualized clinical reasoning framework to your current clinical setting
• describe the nature of climate change and identify its effects specifically on communication and swallowing disorders

Articles in This Course

1. Using Nominal Group Technique to Identify Key Ethical Concerns Regarding Hearing Aids With Machine Learning by Alida Naudé and Juan Bornman, published in SIG 17, Volume 6, Issue 6, December 17, 2021
2. Syncing Our Global Thinking: A Framework for Contextualized Clinical Reasoning by Thiani Pillay and Mershen Pillay, published in SIG 17, Volume 6, Issue 5, October 20, 2021
3. Communication and Swallowing Disorders: The Effects of Climate Change by Sue Sherratt, published in SIG 17, Volume 7, Issue 1, February 11, 2022

DEI Professional Development Requirement

This course counts toward the ASHA certification maintenance professional development requirement for DEI (which encompasses cultural competency; cultural humility; culturally responsive practice; and diversity, equity, and inclusion). See more courses that count toward this requirement or read more about professional development requirements for certification maintenance.

Assessment Type
Self-assessment—Think about what you learned and report on the Completion Form how you will use your new knowledge.