Lunch Colloquium: Wednesday, 18 October 2023

We are so excited to announce our next speaker in the School’s 2023/24 colloquium series, Danielle Lafleur, who will be presenting, ‘Who is responsible for advocating for change?‘

TITLE:
Who is responsible for advocating for change?

ABSTRACT:
Advocacy, riddled with its nuances and ambiguity, is a critical component of our health care, with different methods and expected outcomes as we move throughout the system. Advocacy can be seen on an individual level, with self-advocacy and patient advocacy, and on a systems level, with legislative or policy advocacy. The individuals responsible for advocacy change and coalitions become more complex as expected outcomes of advocacy increase in scope.

This talk will dig into the nuances of advocacy, including distinguishing between health advocacy, activism, and promotion. Self-advocacy, patient advocacy, and legislative advocacy will be explained and illustrated with examples related to hearing health care. Legislative advocacy theories and frameworks that explain the stages and processes of policy development, implementation, and evaluation will be explained. Lastly, a local legislative advocacy initiative, Help BC Hear Better, will be discussed, including past successes and upcoming steps of the advocacy process.

BIO:
Danielle Lafleur is a PhD student at the School of Audiology and Speech Sciences and a practicing audiologist and hearing instrument practitioner. She received her MSc from the University of British Columbia School of Audiology and Speech Sciences. She serves on additional committees focused on hearing health advocacy in British Columbia, notably the Speech and Hearing BC Indigenous Services Working Group and Help BC Hear Better.