Vote Communication Health! - Online Campaign Asks Political Parties to 'Step Up' and Make Communication Health an Election Issue

OTTAWA, Sept. 10, 2015 /CNW/ - Speech-Language and Audiology Canada (SAC) has launched a new online campaign­ – Vote Communication Health – that asks candidates running in the 2015 federal election to address a lack of funding in three key areas of communication health.

One in six people in Canada has a speech, language or hearing disorder. Despite this startling statistic, many people living with communication disorders do not have access to the services and programs they need.

As part of its Vote Communication Health Campaign, SAC has identified three key issues that it wants election candidates to address: 1) the lack of comprehensive early hearing detection and intervention services; 2) the lack of essential health-care services available to seniors, including those that address communication health; and 3) the limited number of speech and language services available for school-aged children.

"The federal government needs to take a leadership role when it comes to communication health," says SAC Chair Judy Schmidbauer, MA, S-LP(C), CCC-SLP. "Too many babies are not being screened for hearing loss at birth nor are they receiving the necessary follow-up. Too many children and teenagers are struggling due to limited speech and language services in schools. Too many seniors do not have access to sufficient speech-language pathology and audiology services, and their quality of life is suffering as a result. The onus cannot be on the provinces and territories alone; the federal government needs to step up and make communication health a priority in our country."

People across Canada can visit SAC's campaign webpage (www.VoteCommunicationHealth.ca) to easily send letters addressing these key issues to all of the candidates in their riding.

"It's imperative that all candidates, regardless of their political stripes, prioritize communication health and understand the important and life-changing work that speech-language pathologists, audiologists and communication health assistants do every single day," says Schmidbauer. "SAC's Vote Communication Health Campaign is about encouraging our members, associates and the Canadian public to mobilize during this federal election," continues Schmidbauer. "We're asking for change."

Visit www.VoteCommunicationHealth.ca to send a letter to all of the candidates in your riding before the election and use the #VoteCommHealth hashtag to join the conversation on social media.

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Speech-Language and Audiology Canada (SAC) is a member-driven organization that supports, promotes and elevates the professions of our members and associates. We are the only national organization passionately supporting and representing speech-language pathologists, audiologists and communication health assistants inclusively. Through this support, we champion the needs of people with communication disorders. Visit us at www.sac-oac.ca to learn more.

SOURCE Speech-Language and Audiology Canada (SAC)

For further information: Media Inquiries: Jessica Bedford, Director of Communications and Marketing, Telephone: [phone] x241, Email: [e-mail]