Rola standardów zawodowych opartych o wymogi kompetencyjne w edukacji i praktyce logopedycznej w Australii

Integrated competency-based occupational standards allow detailed description of the knowledge, skills and attributes which in combination portray competent professional practice. Competency-based occupational standards have been in place within the speech pathology profession in Australia since 1994, and are used for a range of educational and assessment purposes, including assessing eligibility for membership of the Speech Pathology Association of Australia. This paper describes the reasons for and process of development of the standards, the framework for the standards, and how they are used for curriculum development and assessment. The paper also describes the use of CBOS in the development of a validated tool for the assessment of clinical performance.Zintegrowane standardy zawodowe, oparte o wymogi kompetencyjne (CBOS), umożliwiają szczegółowy opis niezbędnej wiedzy, umiejętności i cech, które w połączeniu tworzą właściwą praktykę zawodową. Standardy zawodowe oparte o wymogi kompetencyjne zostały wprowadzone w zawodzie logopedy w Australii od 1994 roku i są wykorzystywane do różnych celów edukacyjnych oraz oceny, w tym oceny kwalifikacji niezbędnych do członkostwa w Stowarzyszeniu Patologii Mowy Australii. Artykuł opisuje przyczyny i proces rozwoju standardów, ramy standardów i to, jak są one wykorzystywane do tworzenia programu nauczania i oceny. Omówiono również zastosowanie CBOS-u w przygotowaniu rzetelnego, zalegalizowanego narzędzia do oceny wyników praktyki klinicznej

Internationalisation of curriculum at home: Imperatives, opportunities and challenges for allied health education

Preparation of globally competent health graduates who have a good understanding of local and international healthcare is an important goal for allied health education. Internationalisation of curriculum and Internationalisation at home strategies are needed to prepare students to work in culturally diverse contexts. A critical review of issues, challenges and future needs in internationalisation of allied health curricula is the focus of this paper. Current approaches to internationalisation from a range of disciplines are considered and their applicability to allied health courses is discussed. Important challenges for progress on internationalisation goals and integration of internationalisation experiences into allied health curricula are identified. Suggestions for progressing internationalisation of allied health curricula through formal and informal curriculum are presented. Future research needs that are key to progressing internationalisation goals in allied health education are considered. Important questions that will prompt academic, clinical educators and students to consider how well internationalisation goals are being addressed in allied health education are also raised

Accreditation requirements in allied health education: Strengths, weaknesses and missed opportunities

This paper reviews the accreditation requirements for six Allied Health (AH) degree programs in Australia to understand the range of accreditation requirements and approaches, with a particular focus on requirements around clinical education in AH education. Strengths of current approaches and further requirements are identified. Of particular interest are those areas where accreditation could better support educational goals and processes, including the preparation of work ready graduates and the encouragement of the use of currently underutilized opportunities for preparing the AH workforce for future healthcare needs. The findings suggest that the accreditation criteria perform well for the development of students’ conceptual and procedural knowledge. However, there are several opportunities for improvement where accreditation could better support preparation of graduates to meet current and future needs of healthcare. These opportunities include increased emphasis on biopsychosocial perspectives of health as healthcare models shift from hospital to community-based settings, increased emphasis on development of interprofessional skills, encouragement of diverse supervision models, explicitness about intentions and interpretations of accreditation requirements, and increased employer representation on accreditation panels. Constraints on universities’ uses of new educational approaches imposed by or arising from non-explicit accreditation requirements are outlined. Arising from this analysis, a summary of considerations for AH accreditation bodies is provided

A critical review of outcomes of peer group mentoring and elements influencing its success and application to student placement supervisors.

Within the mentoring literature, peer group mentoring is emerging as an alternative approach to the traditional one-on-one experienced mentor-novice mentee model. The aim of this study was to examine the evidence base for peer group mentoring with a view to developing a sustainable peer group mentoring framework specifically for student placement supervisors within both the health and community sectors. A literature review was undertaken to determine models of peer group mentoring, elements contributing to their success and reported outcomes. The search strategy was intentionally broad to include papers outside of the health and community sectors. Eleven papers were located that met the inclusion criteria. Models of peer group mentoring broadly fell under three categories: peer led; experienced facilitator present with an active role; and experienced facilitator present in a supportive role. The success of peer group mentoring was influenced by structural elements of the programme, a focus on relationship building, and the learning environment. Outcomes included personal benefits to participants, educational gains, relationship development and productivity improvements. Based on this review, peer group mentoring appears to offer a novel approach to effectively and efficiently supporting and developing our student placement supervisors, ensuring quality learning experiences for our students

Engaging educators and students in the national roll-out of a new assessment tool (COMPASS).

This paper presents key results of an evaluation of a project (funded by ALTC), that led the integration of a newly developed competency based assessment tool (COMPASS™) within all 13 speech pathology education programs nationally. As part of the roll-out process, workshops were provided to close to 1,000 speech pathology clinical educators and students were introduced to the new tool through their lectures and tutorials. In order to provide formative feedback in the early stages of the project (end 2006 – early 2007); a questionnaire (designed to elicit both quantitative and qualitative data) was used following the first 6 workshops (214 educators) and after the first lectures to students at 2 universities (145 students). Most educators (95-97%) and students (74-85%) reported understanding the main concepts that inform key components of COMPASSTM (behavioural descriptors, generic competencies, and use of the Visual Analogue Scale). Qualitative feedback indicated a need for further support in relation to understanding the need for direct observation and the use of the Visual Analogue Scale. Toward the completion of the project (end 2007 – early 2008), a similar questionnaire was distributed to clinical educators (33 respondents) and to students in 3 universities (76 respondents). Results continued to be positive for understanding of main concepts for educators (79-100%) and for students (75-92%). An important finding was the close similarity between educators and students in relation to their understandings about the tool, the areas in which they reported wanting more support/training, and the ways in which they would like to obtain further experience. The implications of these findings for the further embedding of the new assessment tool are discussed.Adelaid

Challenging Remote Community Deficit Perspectives: An Australian Insight into the Role of These Communities in the Design of Their Health Services and the Development of Their Health Workforce

This article reports on findings from a qualitative study that explored the formation of a community-campus partnership, development and delivery of an allied health practice-based service-learning program, and impacts of partnership and program participation for community and campus participants. The partnership sought to address a protracted lack of access to allied health services for children residing in remote Australia. The program aligned occupational therapy and speech pathology student placements to the provision of allied health services to these children. Community participants – school principals and senior managers from local facilitating agencies, and campus participants – allied health students and academics were allocated to focus groups, school principals (n = 7) and allied health students (n = 10), and individual semi-structured interviews, senior managers (n = 2) and academics (n = 2). A constant comparative analysis method was used to analyse data. This article describes community perspectives of partnership initiation, catalysts for participation, and participation impacts. The role of community partners in initiating the partnership was described and conditions associated with remote contexts and health sector failures were identified catalysts. Service and learning adaptation, partnership commitment and service consistency, service acceptability and accessibility, and community investment in remote health workforce development were identified impacts. This article addresses significant gaps in the national and international practice-based service-learning literature, specifically from community and remote perspectives. Study limitations are discussed and implications for how community-campus partnerships are formed and service-learning programs are sustained in remote contexts are explored

Community-Based Service-Learning: A Rural Australian Perspective on Student and Academic Outcomes of Participation

This article reports on a community-based service-learning program that aligned occupational therapy and speech pathology student learning with service provision in order to address the unmet developmental needs of children residing in rural New South Wales, Australia. The article describes academy outcomes for participating allied health students and academics. A pragmatic qualitative research study was undertaken and data collected through focus groups with students and individual interviews with academics. Data were analyzed using a constant comparative analysis method. Broad codes were developed and then collapsed into two themes: catalysts for program participation and civic impacts of participation. Based on the study findings, the authors argue for the need to ensure the development of community-literate health students, academics, and practicing professionals if colleges and universities are to create a rural-ready and responsive health workforce. This community-literate approach must inform how Australian higher education institutions engage with rural communities in community-based service-learning innovation

Stepping out of the shadows: Allied health student and academic perceptions of the impact of a service-learning experience on student's work-readiness and employability.

Universities, health services and health students have a vested interest in the development of work-ready graduates to improve employment prospects, standards of practice and healthcare outcomes. Work integrated learning supports the transition of theoretical knowledge into professional practice, thus preparing students for their work following graduation. The positive impact of practice experiences on work-readiness and employability is largely assumed. This paper describes the impact of participation in a rural Australian service-learning program on student and academic perceptions of work-readiness and future employability. Qualitative data was gathered from allied health students who participated in inter-professional focus groups and allied health academics who participated in individual interviews. The findings indicate that students were challenged in transitioning from being observational or highly directed learners, described as [being in the] 'shadows' or 'shadowing', to semi-autonomous healthcare providers. Participants reported enhanced perceptions of future employability through 'real work' experiences and identified broader program implications for universities and students. Based on participant experiences, service-learning, a relatively new educational pedagogy in rural health education in Australia, may provide universities, health services, and students with an alternative to acute hospital placements in the development of work-ready attributes for new graduate allied health practitioners

Students’ Experiences and Perceptions of Interprofessional Supervision on Placement

This study aimed to explore perceptions and experiences of Occupational Therapy and Speech-Language Therapy students regarding interprofessional supervision during an interprofessional rural schools placement. Eight participants were recruited to participate in three semi-structured, one-to-one interviews conducted by phone before, during, and after the placement. The interviews were transcribed verbatim for subsequent thematic analysis. Our findings indicate that whilst participants valued the interprofessional peer supervision afforded by interprofessional placements, they entered interprofessional placements with misguided assumptions and expectations regarding interprofessional supervision from supervisors. This appeared to contribute to their largely negative perceptions of interprofessional supervision resulting in the devaluing of interprofessional supervision now and possibly in the future. This exploratory study presents a unique insight into the limitations of interprofessional supervision, and the critical need for interprofessional supervisor training and student preparation before placements. Follow-up research is required to expand on these findings so the limitations are addressed. This may enable interprofessional supervisors to provide better learning experiences, increasing students’ acceptance and appreciation of interprofessional supervision