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Interprofessional education and practice
This issue of the Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology focuses
on “Interprofessional practice”. As such, it showcases the abilities of speech-
language pathologists (SLPs) to collaborate with different disciplines to address
their client’s needs. Never has the need for collaboration between professionals been as
great as the present time, as we face social, political and population changes which are
putting significant pressure on health and education services that are already stretched to
their limits.
In light of the recent policies for inclusion of children with special needs within general
classroom settings, Hersh, O’Rourke and Lewis explored the interprofessional learning
opportunities for education and speech-language pathology students. Forty-nine students took
part in their study, 19 of whom evaluated the program and reported positive experiences.
Overall the program promoted education and SLP student collaboration and inclusion.
Another study exploring interprofessional student collaboration was completed by Ciccone,
Hersh, Priddis, and Peterson. Their study examined the experiences of SLP and counselling
psychology students in a role-emerging, interprofessional clinical placement. The students
who took part in this study provided a program to facilitate the development of a healthy
mother–child relationship in a pre-release detention centre. The results of their study showed
that despite being a challenging experience, the interprofessional placement strengthened
students’ collaborative problem-solving, advocacy skills and clinical competence.
In their “Clinical insights” paper, Byrne and Lyddiard provide an overview of strategies
for working with children in out-of-home care who may have experienced trauma or
abuse. They identify considerations for SLPs as part of a larger team of individuals
working to care for and support these children.
Other papers in this issue do not fit within the interprofessional practice theme, but
cover topics of interest and value to SLPs. Two studies (Wilkinson and colleagues, and
Lynham and colleagues) explore aspects of clinical education in the areas of
communication partner training and international placements respectively. In addition,
Munro and colleagues provide an overview of the speechBITE™ database, which is a
valuable resource for clinicians in the provision of evidence based practice.
Within this issue of JCPSLP, regular columns focus on interprofessional practice. In the
“Ethical conversations” column, Bradd, Smith, Muller and Wilson explore ethical factors
relating to interprofessional practice that need to be considered when SLPs work as part
of a clinical team in the provision of care to their clients. In the “What’s the evidence?”
column, Sanderson and Whitworth focus on research investigating interprofessional
education and practice in education and health settings, while Limbrick provides her “Top
10 resources” for working in transdisciplinary practice with children with developmental
delays and disabilities. Bowen provides a description of websites relevant to
interprofessional education and practice in her “Webwords” column.
From the editors
Jane McCormack and Anna Copley
109 From the editors
110 The role-emerging, interprofessional
clinical placement: Exploring its value
for students in speech pathology and
counselling psychology – Natalie
Ciccone, Deborah Hersh, Lynn Priddis
and Amanda Peterson
115 Collaboration towards inclusion:
An interprofessional learning
opportunity for education and
speech pathology students –
Deborah Hersh, John O’Rourke and
Abigail Lewis
120 Addressing the challenges of clinical
education: Conversation partner
training for speech-language
pathology students – Louise Wilkinson,
Tracy Sheldrick, Robyn O’Halloran and
Rachel Davenport
125 A bird’s eye view of speechBITE™:
What do we see? – Natalie Munro,
Emma Power, Kate Smith, Melissa
Brunner, Leanne Togher, Elizabeth
Murray and Patricia McCabe
131 Challenges and practical strategies
for speech pathologists working with
children in out of home care (OOHC)
– Nicole Byrne and Tania Lyddiard
138 “How my clinical placement in
Australia helped me to become the
clinician I am today” – Stephanie
Lynham, Naomi Cocks, Emma Phillips,
Aimee Mulae, Helen Fletcher and
Lauren Smith
142 What’s the evidence? Translating
interprofessional education and
practice into the education and
health care setting: The speech
pathology perspective – Brooke
Sanderson and Anne Whitworth
148 The ethics of interprofessional health
care: Considerations for speech
pathologists – Trish Bradd, Helen
Smith, Noel Muller and Christina Wilson
152 Webwords 47: Interprofessional
education and practice in SLP
– Caroline Bowen
154 Top 10 transdisciplinary resources
– Nicole Limbrick
Contents
JCPSLP Volume 15, Number 3 2013 109