Prevention has been part of the audiology and speech-language pathology scopes of practice for many years. It is becoming increasingly important with managed care, medicare changes, and the cost of crisis intervention. As Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists involved in prevention activities, we can reduce the incidence of a new disorder or disease, identify disorders at an early stage, and also decrease the severity or impact of a disability associated with an existing disorder or disease.

Effective prevention programs are those that are community-based, and can enable the audiologist and speech-language pathologist to help reduce the incidence of communication disorders as a public health problem through primary, secondary or tertiary prevention.