Click here to view Standard 1.1 Patient or Client-Centred Service as a PDF document

Standard

A registrant of RCASLPNB provides inclusive, safe and ethical professional services using a patient or client-centred approach.

Indicators

To demonstrate this standard, the registrant will:

1. Engage patients or clients in decision-making and incorporate their needs and goals into the service plan. This includes collaboration with patients or clients in a manner which considers and respects how their individual values, culture, language, and context may impact service provision.
2. Utilize a variety of communication strategies to facilitate, and make efforts to confirm, the patients’ or clients’ understanding of professional services, as necessary.
3. Obtain patients’ or clients’ informed consent to proposed assessment and intervention plans, recognizing the right to refuse all, or part of the service, or withdraw consent at any time.
4. Monitor patients’ or clients’ responses to assessment and intervention procedures and address, in a timely manner, any issues or concerns which may impact the well-being of patients or clients.
5. Treat all patients or clients with compassion, dignity, sensitivity and respect. Make efforts to avoid actions that diminish, demean, or disempower the patient or client, or care partners.
6. Inform patients or clients of known publicly funded services and products that can meet their needs.

Expected Outcome

Patients and clients can expect their values, culture, language, identity, and individual priorities will be recognized, respected, and integrated into the safe, ethical and professional care they receive.

Glossary

Assessment means the formal and/or informal analysis of communication and related disorders to determine the nature, quality, and severity of a delay or disorder and to inform the development of the patient’s or client’s care/management plan.

Care partner refers to an individual who supports someone with a health condition, disability, or other need, often as a member of the care team. They provide physical, emotional, and cognitive support, and are considered vital members of the caregiving process. Care partners can be family members, friends, or other significant individuals in the person's life.

Collaborate/collaboration means working together so that health care providers can improve the quality and safety of services while still focusing on the patients’ or clients’ needs.

Inclusion/inclusive care involves creating an environment in which all people feel valued and respected, and where equal access to opportunities and resources are provided to people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized.

Informed consent means that a patient or client agrees to a service after understanding its’ purpose, benefits, risks, and available alternatives.  Informed consent must be obtained when required by relevant provincial legislation and can be withdrawn by the patient or client at any time.

Patient or client-centered approach/services refer to a partnership between service providers and the patient or client where the patient or client retains control over their care and is provided access to the knowledge and skills of team members to arrive at a realistic team shared plan of care and access to the resources to achieve the plan.

Professional services refer to any service that falls within the practice of a regulated profession; for the professions of audiology and speech-language pathology, these are as outlined in the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Act.

Registrant means an audiologist or a speech-language pathologist and any person whose name is entered in the temporary register or in any of the rosters established and maintained under the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Act, the bylaws and rules.

Timely means that something is done promptly or without unnecessary delay.

Click here to view Standard 1.2 Evidence-Informed Practice as a PDF Document

Standard

A registrant of RCASLPNB promotes and uses an evidence-informed approach in their practice.

Indicators

To demonstrate this standard, the registrant will:

1. Critically appraise new research, knowledge and emerging trends to determine applicability to practice.
2. Incorporate current evidence, best practices, and patient or client and care partner perspectives, and, when available, professional guidelines into service delivery decisions.
3. Support the development of new knowledge through data collection, program evaluation and clinical inquiry as appropriate.
4. Evaluate their practice to determine the impact of evidence-informed procedures on patient or client outcomes.

Expected Outcome

Patients and clients can expect quality services guided by current research, best practices, and inclusive, evidence-informed approaches that reflects their individual values and goals.

Glossary

Care partner refers to an individual who supports someone with a health condition, disability, or other need, often as a member of the care team. They provide physical, emotional, and cognitive support, and are considered vital members of the caregiving process. Care partners can be family members, friends, or other significant individuals in the person's life.

Evidence-informed refers to using the best available information from research, clinical expertise, and professional experience, with input from the patient or client regarding their background, needs, values, and preferences to guide clinical decision-making.

Inclusion/inclusive care involves creating an environment in which all people feel valued and respected, and where equal access to opportunities and resources are provided to people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized.

Patient or client refers to a recipient of the services of an audiologist or speech-language pathologist.

Quality services refer to services evaluated based on factors as accessibility, acceptability, appropriateness, efficiency, effectiveness, and safety factors, including cultural safety and freedom from racism and discrimination.

Registrant means an audiologist or a speech-language pathologist and any person whose name is entered in the temporary register or in any of the rosters established and maintained under the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Act, the bylaws and rules.

Click here to view Standard 1.3 Cultural Safety, Cultural Humility & Anti-Racism as a PDF document

Standard

A registrant of RCASLPNB provides culturally safe and anti-racist care to all patients or clients.

Indicators

To demonstrate this standard, the registrant will:

1. Practice cultural humility by reflecting on their own professional values, assumptions, beliefs, and privileges, and consider how these may affect the professional relationship.
2. Seek feedback and evaluate their own behaviour in interactions with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
3. Engage in ongoing education related to cultural safety, cultural humility, anti-racism, and the social determinants of health.
4. Take action to identify, address, prevent, and eliminate racism by supporting patients or clients and others, in recognizing and reporting discriminatory behaviour to leadership and/or the appropriate regulatory body.
5. Acknowledge and respect patients’ or clients' cultural rights, values, and practices in care planning, including customs and protocols related to health, birth, and death, where possible.
6. Involve the patients or clients, care partners, community members, or cultural supports in care, as appropriate and when requested.
7. Understand that past or ongoing trauma, discrimination and systemic inequities may affect how clients access care or engage with service providers.

Expected Outcome

Patients or clients can expect culturally safe, respectful, and anti-racist care from professionals who understand how trauma, discrimination, and systemic inequities may influence their access to and experience of services—for both them and their caregivers.

Glossary

Anti-racism/racist refers to the practice of actively identifying, challenging, preventing, eliminating, and changing the values, structures, policies, programs, practices, and behaviours that perpetuate racism.  It is more than just being “not racist” but involves taking action to create conditions of greater inclusion, equality, and justice.

Care partner refers to an individual who supports someone with a health condition, disability, or other need, often as a member of the care team. They provide physical, emotional, and cognitive support, and are considered vital members of the caregiving process. Care partners can be family members, friends, or other significant individuals in the person's life.

Cultural humility is a process of self-reflection to understand personal and systemic biases and to develop and maintain respectful processes and relationships based on mutual trust. Cultural humility involves humbly acknowledging oneself as a learner when it comes to understanding another’s experience.

Cultural safety exists when individuals feel respected, valued, and safe in their interactions with service providers and systems. Culturally safe health services are free from racism and discrimination, and support people in drawing strength from their identity, culture, and community.  Culturally safe services are free of racism and discrimination, and support people in drawing strength from their identity, culture, and community.

Discrimination refers to unfair or prejudiced treatment of individuals or groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, religion, disability, or other personal attributes.  It can be direct (e.g., verbal abuse) or indirect (e.g., biased policies or practices).

Professional relationship refers to the connection between a registrant and a patient, client, or colleague, established through the provision of service.

Social determinants of health refer to non-medical factors that influence people’s overall health and well-being.  They are conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, and includes access to justice.

Systemic inequities refer to the larger structures and systems (such as health care and education) that create or maintain unequal outcomes for certain groups. These inequities are often rooted in historical oppression, discriminatory policies, institutional bias and/or unequal access to resources.

Click here to view Standard 1.4 Patient or Client Assessment and Intervention as a PDF document

Standard

A registrant of RCASLPNB selects and applies appropriate screening and assessment procedures and analyzes and interprets the information gathered to determine audiology or speech-language pathology diagnosis or areas of need. They implement appropriate interventions to deliver quality services that correspond to patients’ or clients’ priorities and changing needs.

Indicators

To demonstrate this standard, the registrant will:

1. Use an evidence-informed approach, sound professional judgment, consideration of patient or client priorities and needs, and knowledge of both the functional impact of patient or client limitations and environmental context to determine appropriate screening and assessment procedures, interventions, and measurable outcomes.
2. Implement culturally and linguistically appropriate screening and assessment procedures and interventions within their professional scope of practice and personal competence.
3. Ensure contraindications to proposed screening and assessment procedures and interventions are identified, managed and documented.
4. Conduct screening and assessment procedures ensuring accurate administration, recording, scoring, interpretation and documentation of results.
5. Apply critical inquiry and sound professional judgment to the collection and interpretation of formal and informal assessment results to obtain a diagnosis and/or identify areas of need and determine interventions.
6. Monitor the effectiveness of interventions, modify approaches, and implement alternatives as needed.
7. Optimize the use of available resources for assessment procedures and interventions.
8. Counsel, educate and facilitate patients’ or clients’ participation in their health care services including post-discharge self-management.
9. Provide only those services that are beneficial to patients or clients, implement discharge planning (e.g., referral to other health care providers, patient or client education) and discontinue treatment when appropriate.
10. Advocate for necessary services and resources that support the individual patient or client, and their care partners when appropriate.

Expected Outcome

Patients and clients can expect that assessments and interventions are carefully chosen, well understood and delivered in a way that is safe, skilled and effective.

Glossary

Advocate means to support or argue for a cause, policy, enhanced services etc.

Care partner refers to an individual who supports someone with a health condition, disability, or other need, often as a member of the care team. They provide physical, emotional, and cognitive support, and are considered vital members of the caregiving process. Care partners can be family members, friends, or other significant individuals in the person's life.

Competence/competent/competency refers to the combined knowledge, skills, attitudes and judgment required to provide safe, effective, and ethical professional services.

Critical inquiry means considering information regarding the patients’ or clients’ societal context, social determinants of health, along with the functional impact of patient or client limitations.

Evidence-informed refers to using the best available information from research, clinical expertise, and professional experience, with input from the patient or client regarding their background, needs, values, and preferences to guide clinical decision-making.

Intervention/intervention strategy refers to the various services provided to patients or clients, including, but not limited to, assessment, individual or group treatment, counselling, home programming, caregiver training, devices, and discharge planning.

Patient or client refers to a recipient of the services of an audiologist or speech-language pathologist.

Scope of practice refers to the procedures, actions and services that a health care professional is legally permitted to perform, based on their qualifications, training, education, and licensure.

Screening refers to a process or tool that is used for the purpose of identifying a possible problem which requires further follow-up, assessment, or referral.

Click here to view Standard 1.5 Communication as a PDF document

Standard

A registrant of RCASLPNB communicates respectfully, effectively and in a timely manner in the provision of professional services.

Indicators

To demonstrate this standard, the registrant will:

1. Communicate truthfully, respectfully, effectively, and clearly, using plain language and considering principles of cultural safety in all forms of communication.
2. Select appropriate communication techniques, adapt communication style and minimize barriers by demonstrating an awareness of cultural differences in communication and by incorporating required supports (e.g., use of interpreters, technological devices, written cues).
3. Facilitate open, two-way communication to support the patients’ or clients’ understanding and engagement.
4. Ensure all written communication is clear, professional, and completed in a timely manner.
5. Share written reports, as appropriate, to relevant care team members, respecting relevant provincial privacy legislation and consent requirements.

Expected Outcome

Patients and clients can expect clear, respectful, effective and prompt professional communication.

Glossary

Cultural safety exists when individuals feel respected, valued, and safe in their interactions with service providers and systems. Culturally safe health services are free from racism and discrimination, and support people in drawing strength from their identity, culture, and community.  Culturally safe services are free of racism and discrimination, and support people in drawing strength from their identity, culture, and community.

Patient or client refers to a recipient of the services of an audiologist or speech-language pathologist.

Plain language refers to communication that your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it. Language that is plain to one audience may not be plain to another.  Written material is in plain language if your audience can find what they need, understand what they find, and use what they find to meet their needs.

Professional services refer to any service that falls within the practice of a regulated profession; for the professions of audiology and speech-language pathology, these are as outlined in the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Act.

Registrant means an audiologist or a speech-language pathologist and any person whose name is entered in the temporary register or in any of the rosters established and maintained under the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Act, the bylaws and rules.

 Timely means that something is done promptly or without unnecessary delay.

Click here to view Standard 1.6 Collaboration as a PDF document

Standard

A registrant of RCASLPNB works collaboratively to facilitate the delivery of quality patient or client-centred services.

Indicators

To demonstrate this standard, the registrant will:

1. Work collaboratively and respectfully with the patient or client, care partners, cultural facilitators or liaisons, interpreters and/or translators to facilitate an integrated, patient or client-centered approach to services.
2. Consult with others and refer to the appropriate professional when patients’ or clients’ needs fall outside their scope, area of expertise, or level of competence.
3. Collaborate and contribute actively with team members to facilitate an integrated approach to services.
4. Actively engage with relevant team members, including the patient or client, to support decision making, prevent misunderstandings, manage differences, and take positive action to mitigate or resolve any conflicts which arise.
5. Serve as an educator and mentor to patients or clients, students, colleagues, the public and others by sharing knowledge, supporting learning and teaching strategies.
6. Communicate one’s professional roles, responsibilities and scope of practice in collaborative interactions with the patient or client, care partners and relevant professionals.
7. Understand and seek clarification, when required, regarding the scope of practice and roles of other team members.

Expected Outcome

Patients and clients can expect high-quality, well-coordinated services delivered through teamwork and collaboration.

Glossary

Care partner refers to an individual who supports someone with a health condition, disability, or other need, often as a member of the care team. They provide physical, emotional, and cognitive support, and are considered vital members of the caregiving process. Care partners can be family members, friends, or other significant individuals in the person's life.

Collaborate/collaboration means working together so that health care providers can improve the quality and safety of services while still focusing on the patients’ or clients’ needs

Competence/competent/competency refers to the combined knowledge, skills, attitudes and judgment required to provide safe, effective, and ethical professional services.

Cultural facilitator or liaison refers to any member of a cultural association or community who acts as a bridge between professionals and individuals from equity-seeking groups accessing care (e.g., Elders, religious leaders etc.).

Patient or client refers to a recipient of the services of an audiologist or speech-language pathologist.

Patient or client-centered approach/services refer to a partnership between service providers and the patient or client where the patient or client retains control over their care and is provided access to the knowledge and skills of team members to arrive at a realistic team shared plan of care and access to the resources to achieve the plan.

Quality services refer to services evaluated based on factors as accessibility, acceptability, appropriateness, efficiency, effectiveness, and safety factors, including cultural safety and freedom from racism and discrimination.

Registrant means an audiologist or a speech-language pathologist and any person whose name is entered in the temporary register or in any of the rosters established and maintained under the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Act, the bylaws and rules.

Scope of practice refers to the procedures, actions and services that a health care professional is legally permitted to perform, based on their qualifications, training, education, and licensure.

Click here to view Standard 1.7 Concurrent Practice as a PDF document

Standard

A registrant of RCASLPNB collaborates with other RCASLPNB registrants to provide safe, effective and quality service when aware of a concurrent service and when informed consent has been obtained for information sharing.

Indicators

To demonstrate this standard, the registrant will:

1. Inquire whether the patient or client is receiving concurrent interventions.
2. Ensure the patient or client is informed of the potential risks and benefits of concurrent practice and document appropriately.
3. Collaborate and communicate with the other registrant(s) involved in the care of the same patient or client to ensure that goals and interventions are coordinated and synergistic.
4. Monitor the effectiveness and appropriateness of concurrent practice and discontinue if it is determined that the risks outweigh the benefits.
5. Communicate to the patient or client, a decision to decline or discontinue concurrent intervention, explain the rationale and document the discussion.

Expected Outcome

Patients and clients can expect to be informed of the risks and benefits of concurrent practice, and that service providers will make careful, collaborative decisions in their best interest.

Glossary

Concurrent practice refers to two or more registrants of RCASLPNB sharing responsibility for providing independent services to a patient/client simultaneously. The provision of interventions can be face-to-face or via virtual care.

Collaborate/collaboration means working together so that health care providers can improve the quality and safety of services while still focusing on the patients’ or clients’ needs

Patient or client refers to a recipient of the services of an audiologist or speech-language pathologist.

Quality services refer to services evaluated based on factors as accessibility, acceptability, appropriateness, efficiency, effectiveness, and safety factors, including cultural safety and freedom from racism and discrimination.

Registrant means an audiologist or a speech-language pathologist and any person whose name is entered in the temporary register or in any of the rosters established and maintained under the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Act, the bylaws and rules.

Intervention/intervention strategy refers to the various services provided to patients or clients, including, but not limited to, assessment, individual or group treatment, counselling, home programming, caregiver training, devices, and discharge planning.

Click here to view Standard 1.8 Virtual Care as a PDF document

Standard

A registrant of RCASLPNB will ensure the delivery of safe, effective, and quality services when delivering virtual care.

Indicators

To demonstrate this standard, the registrant will:

1. Acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and equipment required to effectively deliver patient or client care virtually.
2. Ensure that virtual care methods and documentation comply with all relevant provincial privacy and confidentiality legislation (e.g., encryption of audio and video information, secure storage and appropriate retention and destruction of records).
3. Make evidence-informed decisions and use professional judgement to determine if virtual care is suitable to address specific patients’ or clients’ needs.
4. Comply with all relevant legislation and provide virtual care within the authorized scope of practice for the province(s), region(s), or country(ies) in which they are registered.
5. Obtain informed consent for virtual care by ensuring patients or clients understand the risks, benefits, and available alternatives. Ensure they know they may refuse or withdraw consent at any time.
6. Take all reasonable steps to mitigate risks for the patient or client, including considering the competencies and skills of the person who may be assisting them in their physical space.

Expected Outcome

Patients and clients can expect to receive high-quality virtual care that meets the same standards as in-person services.  They will be informed of the risks and benefits of virtual care and have the right to refuse or withdraw their consent at any time.

Glossary

Competence/competent/competency refers to the combined knowledge, skills, attitudes and judgment required to provide safe, effective, and ethical professional services.

Confidential/confidentiality implies a trust relationship between the person supplying personal information (including health information) and the individual or organization collecting it. The relationship is built on the assurance that the information will only be used by or disclosed to authorized persons or to others with the individual’s permission. Protecting the confidentiality of personal information and personal health information implies that individually identifying information is concealed from all but authorized parties.

Informed consent means that a patient or client agrees to a service after understanding its’ purpose, benefits, risks, and available alternatives.  Informed consent must be obtained when required by relevant provincial legislation and can be withdrawn by the patient or client at any time.

Patient or client refers to a recipient of the services of an audiologist or speech-language pathologist.

Quality services refer to services evaluated based on factors as accessibility, acceptability, appropriateness, efficiency, effectiveness, and safety factors, including cultural safety and freedom from racism and discrimination.

Record refers to the entire collection of a patients’ or clients’ information over time, regardless of the format or how it is documented, recorded, or stored.

Registrant means an audiologist or a speech-language pathologist and any person whose name is entered in the temporary register or in any of the rosters established and maintained under the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Act, the bylaws and rules.

Scope of practice refers to the procedures, actions and services that a health care professional is legally permitted to perform, based on their qualifications, training, education, and licensure.

Virtual care refers to the provision of audiology and/or speech-language pathology services at a distance, using synchronous and asynchronous information and digital communications technologies and processes (examples include telephone, virtual computer platforms, email, and text messaging). Virtual care is often referred to as telepractice or telehealth services, and may include interactions between audiologists, speech-language pathologists and their patient or client, as well as interactions between health care providers. It can be used for diagnosis, assessment, treatment, consultation, and education.