In this activity, you will reflect on how a speech-language pathologist can help a person who is a chronic user of alcohol and opioids with hearing loss. 

Step 1: Reflect

You have a patient who is a chronic user of alcohol and opioids and reports progressive hearing loss in the last 4 months. This patient has been working as a sound engineer for many years.

Step 2: Write

Prepare a 100-400 word piece of writing that discusses how you can help this patient, keeping in mind the following points:

• Interventions to address hearing loss

• Interventions to aid the problematic use of substances considering:

• The need for communicating the problem with the patient’s network

• Job security and stigma

Make sure to support your claims with appropriate references. All references should follow 7th Edition APA formatting. See the resource on the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library for instructions: APA citation resource (N.B. references are excluded from word counts).

Step 3: Share 

To share your work, click on the button at the bottom of the screen labeled “Add a new discussion topic” and include the title "Discussion: A speech-language pathologist's role in the care of individuals with audiology/phonation/voice disorders" in the subject line.

OPTIONAL Step 5: Interact (10 minutes)

If you would like to, you can reply to your peers' posts in a respectful and professional manner. Ensure that your post engages your peers' ideas by including a reflection on their comments, sharing ideas of other potential difficulties and parties involved, or asking thought-provoking questions. If a peer comments on your posting, please reply. To post a reply, click “Reply” on a particular discussion, write your feedback and then click on “Post to forum.”