083 - Jon Suen, AuD - Building a Bridge Between Audiology, Gerontology, Nursing and Public Health

Guest: Jon Suen, AuD - PhD Candidate at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing; Predcotoral Trainee at Johns Hopkins Cochlear Center for Hearing & Public Health Topic: Building a Bridge Between Audiology, Gerontology, Nursing and Public Health Jon joins the podcast this week to discuss his personal story of how he wound up at Johns Hopkins. Jon's story is a fascinating one, as it involves a winding path that includes passion for American Sign Language, Gallaudet University for his AuD, and a stint with The Peace Corps. Ultimately, Jon found his way to Johns Hopkins where he now is mentored by folks like Dr. Frank Lin and Jennifer Wenzel, PhD. Jon's work focuses on the intersection between Audiology, Gerontology, Nursing and Public Health. As Jon and Dave discuss, the community-based approach to Audiology that Jon is studying and helping to define, provides for a unique, collaborative opportunity for Audiologists to work within a broader team of healthcare professionals.  For example, Jon describes a potential for audiologists to work in multidisciplinary programs like CAPABLE, whose goal is to support older adults “aging-in-place.” The team is comprised of a Nurse, Occupational Therapist, and Handy Person (who helps with home modifications). An audiologist could contribute very meaningfully to such a team, though most are currently not yet trained to consider social determinants of health for older adults with hearing loss. Jon and Dave discuss how community based approaches to Audiology may allow for more opportunities for the Audiologist to help train and impart their expertise on fellow health professionals & community-based team members, which might ultimately help to expand the influence and benefits of Audiology to the broader population. Transcript: here --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/futureear/message