ASHA Learning Pass

This session provides an overview of social determinants of health as they relate to maternal health and child feeding development across a variety of settings. Speakers present research findings on how maternal exposures (e.g., stress, environmental) and maternal factors (psychosocial) can influence sucking and feeding outcomes in infants. The session examines social determinants of health in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), home health/community, and outpatient settings for children birth to 3 years old.

This course is a recorded session from the 2023 ASHA online conference Rethinking Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing.

Related Courses

See more sessions from Rethinking Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing.

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• Describe the five domains of social determinants of health
• Discuss how exposures in the uterine environment (e.g., maternal factors) can influence sucking outcomes soon after birth
• Identify at least three ways social determinants of health impact patient and family access to care in their community and homes
• Explain how to improve understanding of social determinants of health to support patient access to quality care

Presenter Information

Brianna Miluk, MS, CCC-SLP, CLC, is a speech-language pathologist and certified lactation counselor from Greenville, SC, who provides home and outpatient-based services to infants and medically complex children. She specializes in pediatric feeding disorders, which she enjoys talking about in her continuing education courses and mentorship programs and on her podcast. Bri strives to provide collaborative and compassionate family-centered care.

Financial Disclosures:

• Salary from Pennsylvania Western University
• Owner of Pediatric Feeding Therapy, LLC
• Contract SLP for Earthshine Speech and Language and My Little Eater
• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• President of Pediatric Feeding Disorders Foundation
• Conference committee for Feeding Matters

Emily Zimmerman, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an Associate Professor of Communication Sciences & Disorders at Northeastern University. She directs the Speech & Neurodevelopment Lab, which examines the cross section of sucking, feeding, and speech emergence across environmental, maternal, physiological, and genetic factors. Dr. Zimmerman is the principal investigator on several NIH grants examining these themes across patient populations.

Financial Disclosures:

• Salary from Northeastern University
• Grant funding from NIH
• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• None

Kara Fletcher Larson, MS, CCC-SLP, is a pediatric speech-language pathologist at Boston Children's Hospital, where she has worked for 21 years. She is the Clinical Coordinator of the Outpatient Feeding & Swallowing Program. Kara is also the lead clinician in the Aerodigestive Center. She conducts research in the area of pediatric aerodigestive disorders and dysphagia. She also is part-time faculty at Boston University and Emerson College at the graduate level. She resides south of Boston with her family and enjoys skiing, boating, and cooking.

Financial Disclosures:

• Salary from Boston Children's Hospital, Boston University, and Emerson College
• Paid consultant at Tomy International
• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• Executive board member for the Aerodigestive Society

Assessment Type

Self-assessment—Think about what you learned and report on the Completion Form how you will use your new knowledge.

To earn continuing education credit, you must complete and submit the learning assessment by the end date below.

Program History and CE Information

Online conference dates: March 22–April 3, 2023, November 29–December 11, 2023
End date: August 28, 2029

This course is offered for 0.1 ASHA CEUs (Intermediate level, Professional area).