ACQ Vol 11 No 1 2009

MULTICULTURALISM AND DYSPHAGIA

One workshop participant gave the example of an adult client requesting and successfully managing scotch thickened to accommodate his dysphagia, only to have this decision overturned by a risk-averse management. A “one-size-fits-all” approach to services is not working to ensure access and equity for all actual and potential speech pathology clients. Concluding comments Our workplaces will continue to experience significant societal, systemic and technological change, and in turn influence our practice. We will not be able to anticipate, prepare for, shield or pre-empt the impact of all these changes on ethical provision of our services. Consequently we need to stay vigilant, scanning the environment for trends and changes that may influence our practice, discussing their potential impacts on our services and engaging in CPD about ethics. As McAllister (2006) has previously discussed, we need to be ethically aware and think about ethics as a part of our daily planning, delivery and evaluation of services, not just as something that is called on when confronted with “dilemmas” pertinent to individual clients. References Australian Government Productivity Commission. (2005). Australia’s health workforce. Productivity Commission Research Report . Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. Beauchamp, T., & Childress, J. (2009). Principles of biomedical ethics (6th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Body, R. & McAllister, L. (in press). Ethics in speech language therapy . London: Wiley & Sons. Chetney, R. (2002). Interactive home telehealth: moving from cost savings to reimbursement. Creative, proactive strategies help agencies turn telehealth into a revenue generator. Telemed Today , 9 (3), 19–20. Cornford, T. & Klecun-Dabrowska, E. (2001). Ethical perspectives in evaluation of telehealth. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics , 10 , 161–169. Cross, R., Leitão, S. & McAllister, L. (2008). Think big, act locally: responding to ethical dilemmas. ACQ 10(2) 39–41. Eadie, P. & Atherton, M. (2008). Ethical conversations. ACQ 10 (3), 92–94. McAllister, L. (2006) Ethics in the workplace: More than just using ethical decision making protocols. ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech, Language and Hearing , 8 (2), 76–80. Reed, G., McLaughlin, C. & Milholland, K. (2000). Ten interdisciplinary principles for professional practice in telehealth: Implications for psychology. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice , 31 (2) 170–178.

Sim, J. (1997). Ethical decision making in therapy practice . Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann. Speech Pathology Australia. (2000). Code of ethics . Mel­ bourne: Author. Speech Pathology Australia. (2003). Scope of practice . Melbourne: Author. Speech Pathology Australia. (2005a). Dysphagia: Modified barium swallow . Melbourne: Author. Speech Pathology Australia. (2005b). Tracheostomy manage­ ment . Melbourne: Author. Speech Pathology Australia. (2007a). Fibreoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing . Melbourne: Author. Speech Pathology Australia. (2007b). Parameters of practice: Guidelines for delegation, collaboration and teamwork in speech pathology practice . Melbourne: Author. Stanberry, B. (2000). Telemedicine: barriers and op­ portunities in the 21st century. Journal of Internal Medicine , 247, 615–628. Theodoros, D. (2008). Telerehabilitation for service delivery in speech-language pathology. Journal of telemedicine and Telecare , 14 , 221–224. United Nations. (1989). Convention on the rights of the child . Geneva: Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights. United Nations. (2006). Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities . Geneva: Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights. Marie Atherton is the Senior Advisor Professional Issues at Speech Pathology Australia National Office in Mel­ bourne. In her current role Marie supports the manage­ ment of ethical complaints to the Association and provides professional and clinical knowledge input to a variety of project and policy activities. Lindy McAllister is a Senior Council Appointed Member of the Ethics Board of Speech Pathology Australia. She is currently Deputy Head (Teaching and Learning) of the Mayne Medical School at the University of Queensland. Lindy has a long history in teaching and writing about ethics in speech pathology. Correspondence to: Marie Atherton Senior Advisor Professional Issues

Speech Pathology Australia Level 2, 11–19 Bank Place, Melbourne VIC 3000 email: matherton@speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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