Communication accessibility in healthcare settings

People need to be able to communicate effectively with their healthcare providers and access information about their health condition/s in a range of different ways in order to participate in their own healthcare. People with communication disabilities are at risk of not being able to communicate with their healthcare providers or to access the information they need and this places them at greater risk of poorer health outcomes. Oneway speech pathologists and audiologists can support people with communication disabilities is by creating communicatively accessible healthcare environments. The articles in this issue of ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech, Language and Hearing indicate that creating communicatively accessible healthcare environments requires administrative support, ongoing research, personal commitment, and a long-term perspective.