Speak Out
February 2014
7
Professional Support Advisor
HI EVERYONE
. I’m back! I was pleased to be
employed as the project officer to review
SPA’s Mentoring Program as I had previously
worked as the National Coordinator of
the Mentoring Program and have a strong
commitment to the success of the program.
In between leaving and returning I completed
a PhD and accreditation in Video Interaction
Guidance. I have continued to work as a
Speech Pathologist at Able Australia in the Deafblind Services team
and working on research projects at Deakin, Melbourne and Monash
Universities (not all at once).
I’m really looking forward to working with you all in this new role to
develop high quality resources related to professional support focusing
on mentoring and supervision in particular.
Changes to mentoring program and
professional support for members
The Speech Pathology Australia Mentoring Program was reviewed at
the end of 2013 as it was recognised that the existing program had a
number of issues which required addressing. These included:
•
inconsistencies between states and territories depending on the
presence or absence of then Branch Mentoring Leaders,
•
issues related to mentees seeking mentoring as a substitute for
supervision, in the absence of supervision being provided in their
workplace,
•
mentees being matched with mentors but then lacking commitment
to the mentoring process for a variety of reasons including
finding they had better support in their workplace than they were
anticipating,
•
more mentees registering than mentors.
To address these issues as well as streamlining the matching process,
the program has become more mentee driven with mentees now
expected to undertake their own search for a mentor. It is envisaged that
this process will assist:
•
mentees to discover a variety of other professional support options
available to them,
•
only mentees committed to the process to register with the program,
•
the time it takes to be matched to a mentor to be directly
proportional to the motivation of the mentee,
•
to reflect more at the outset upon their needs and preferences with
regard to what they want from a mentoring partnership.
Mentees and mentors interested in participating in the program should
go to
If you have any questions regarding mentoring, supervision, or other
professional support options, please contact me on
1300 368 835
or via
.
MEREDITH PRAIN
Professional Support Advisor
(Tuesday only)
researchers and academics, we have members
and representation from every state and territory.
The nature of palliative care is changing as we keep
people alive for longer. People are receiving palliative
care for longer but living with increasing periods of
debility and functional decline. Palliative care is often
seen as synonymous with terminal care. However,
terminal care, while part of the disease trajectory,
only relates to the last days to hours of life. Prior
to this time, research demonstrates that people
retain an ongoing desire to participate as actively as
possible in the life that remains. Allied Health have a
pivotal role to play in the management and care of
people receiving palliative care to optimise function
and to facilitate participation in everyday activities for
as long as people are able.
AAHPC seeks to provide a forum to engage and
support Allied Health clinicians and academics
who have a vision to:
•
expand the allied health profile in palliative
care to relevant disciplines, professional
bodies, academic communities, State and
Federal Governments;
•
conduct research and implement evidence-
based allied health practice in palliative care;
and
•
connect and inform clinicians.
The impetus behind AAHPC is to achieve best
possible outcomes for patients and their families.
If you are interested in finding out more about
AAHPC’s strategic focus and objectives please
contact Deidre Morgan:
or Pauline Cerdor:
.
2014 Online Resource Guide
now available!
Speech Pathology
Australia’s 2014 Online
Resource Guide provides
members and the public
with a reference manual
of products and services
which may be of use. The
Online Resource Guide is
an interactive resource, complete with links to
websites and email addresses, and enabled
to be conveniently viewed on portable devices
such as mobile phones and tablets. To view
the 2014 Online Resource Guide,
ASSOCIATION NEWS
