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36

JCPSLP

Volume 14, Number 1 2012

Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology

Summary

Looking back over the themes that emerged, one could

argue that, in some ways, this column could have been

written at any point in time. Drivers such as money, lack of

support, and technology have always had an impact on

professional practice. It is the specifics of the current

financial situation, the changing world economy, and the

fast emerging newer types of technology that influence the

current emerging issues. As practitioners, researchers,

educators, and members of our professional community we

need to be ever vigilant and mindful about these factors

and be proactive in our professional lives.

As a Board, we hope that the 2010 revision of the Code

of Ethics is something that members of the profession can

use in a proactive and positive way, for example during

orientation, mentoring, and professional development

activities and not just something to refer to when things

go wrong. Through such proactive, “ethical thinking” we

should always strive to avoid ethical problems arising,

rather than wait until they do and then have to manage the

problems.

References

Body, R., & McAllister, L. (2009).

Ethics in speech and

language therapy

. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.

Millsteed, J. (2006). Technology and Ethics. In H.

Freegard (Ed.),

Ethical practice for health professionals

(pp.

210–229). Melbourne: Cengage learning:

The Speech Pathology Association of Australia Limited.

(2003).

Scope of practice

. Retrieved from http://www.

speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/library/Core_Assoc_Doc/

Scope_of_Practice.pdf

The Speech Pathology Association of Australia

Limited. (2010).

Code of Ethics

. Retrieved from http://

www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/library/Ethics/

CodeofEthics.pdf

The Speech Pathology Association of Australia Limited.

(2011).

Competency-based occupational standards for

speech pathologists: Entry level

. Retrieved from http://

www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/library/Core_Assoc_

Doc/CBOS_for_Speech_Pathologists_2011.pdf

1 This survey is available at:

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/

abs@.nsf/mf/4228.0/

From a consumer and investigation

panel perspective

Finances

“People today are facing so many challenges due to rising

financial forces such as rising mortgage fees, fuel expenses,

and power bills, to just name a few. People are also in

general working longer hours and spending less family time

together. These pressures on money, time, and family seem

to be impacting decisions to bring forth a case to ethics

with some people feeling hard done by or let down by

member practitioners.”

Business relationships

“From a member perspective, there also seems to be

pressures on business relationships to succeed. At times

complaints are being made that have to be sifted through

by the panel to find the true and relevant ethical complaints

and separate them apart from purely civil and financial ones.

Complainants seem to be under more financial pressure

than in the past and complaints at times seem to shift into

this domain and may not at all be relevant to the Board.”

From a research (and clinical)

perspective

Consent

“People with communication disorders have the right to

make informed decisions about whether to participate in

research. To make an informed decision, information

statements and consent forms must include content and

format that is appropriate for the client and/or their carers.

While it is vital that vulnerable clients are not coerced into

participating in research, it is also important that people

with severe communication issues have opportunities to

take part in research – particularly when studies will provide

evidence that may facilitate intervention for people with

similar disorders. If we assume that research participation is

an added burden for a client/family, then we can fail to

recognise that some clients and their families experience

pride and satisfaction from contributing to research that

benefits the community. However, this outcome is likely to

occur only if research participants are partners in the

research process and their contributions are perceived as

valued and managed with respect.”

“We need to be very mindful of informed consent,

particularly for culturally and linguistically diverse members

of the community when we offer clinical services.”

“We need to consider the impact of low health literacy.

In the 2006 Australian literacy and life skills survey,

1

47%

of the 9000 people sampled had only Level 1 or Level 2

literacy which equates to about Grade 5 level literacy. This

means they could read a short piece of text and find a

single piece of information. This has an influence on how

we write our research and treatment consent forms, our

assessment reports, and handouts!”

Correspondence to:

Dr Suze Leitão CPSP, FSPAA

School of Psychology and Speech Pathology

Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University

GPO Box U1987

Perth, WA 6845

phone: +61 (0)8 9266 7620

email:

S.Leitao@Curtin.edu.au

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