This event will focus on the role that pharmacists can play in providing pharmaceutical care for people with hearing impairment or a disability linked to hearing loss. Pharmacists must provide clear messages and adapt their communication strategies to this particular population group to ensure optimal use of medicines and medical devices, and they need to have the knowledge and skills to do so. Also, people with hearing loss face different challenges and this problem becomes more relevant with age. Pharmacists can support patients in detecting early signs of hearing loss and taking the appropriate actions.

Learning objectives:

• Understand how hearing impairment or deafness impact a patient’s quality of life and their capacity to communicate with healthcare professionals.
• Learn about what pharmacists can do to support patients and carers with these conditions.
• Improve communication strategies to advise patients with hearing impairment on how to achieve an optimal use of medicines and medical devices.

Moderator:

• Tara Hehir, SAPS Secretary, Consultant Pharmacist, Australia

Panellists:

• Kasper Bergmann, Vice President World Federation of the Deaf, Denmark
• Kenneth Bitrus David, MSc Pharmacology and Drug Development Candidate Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, Nigeria/ United Kingdom
• Fiorella Donato Zúñiga, Pharmacist, Coordinator of "Programa Salud Inclusiva" (Inclusive Health Program) Acceso Visual , Costa Rica