Recent events have placed a renewed spotlight on racial disparities in health care outcomes, how they are addressed in clinical settings, and the impact of clinical service delivery on clinical outcomes. Similarly, these events have highlighted the impact of systems of oppression in higher education, which translate to clinical service delivery in speech-language pathologyas well as other disciplines. This course explores how health disparities and systems of oppression are affecting clinical settings and clinical outcomes for communication and swallowing services delivered to individuals of advanced age. Speakers will discuss how clinicians can address health disparities and disrupt oppression in their work settings and ultimately improve clinical outcomes for all.

This course is part of the SIGnature Series, a collection of courses developed by volunteers from ASHA’s Special Interest Groups, who share practical, evidence-based suggestions and solutions based on their in-depth knowledge, clinical experiences, and passion for their specialty areas. This course was developed by SIG 15: Gerontology.

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• Define key terms related to health disparities
• Identify the contributors to health disparities•Summarize key research related to health disparities related to aphasia
• Identify systems of oppression in health care •Name three strategies todisrupt systems of oppression in your work setting

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.

More courses in this series

View all the SIGnature Series courses, available through the ASHA Learning Pass subscription or for a la carte purchase.

Assessment Type

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