Activity Description

This course introduces the core concepts and principles of biomedical ethics and applies them to the practice of speech-language pathology.  The course includes a variety of case examples for group discussion.

Activity Audience

This course is for Speech-Language Pathologists.

Learning Outcomes

Participants who successfully complete this course will be able to:

• Discuss an approach to resolving ethical questions in practice with a focus on the concept of shared decision-making.
• Define and describe the core principles of bioethics that define and guide clinical practice in any health-related profession and key concepts of informed consent, informed refusal, clinical decision-making capacity, and legal competence.
• Describe how these principles and issues apply to the practice of speech-language pathology and the role of the speech-language pathologist.
• Discuss approaches to decision-making when the individual lacks decision-making capacity including the application and limitations of advance directives and decision-making for children.

Host Requirements

1. Have a minimum of five participants.
2. Schedule your DVDs for Groups with LinguiSystems a minimum of 30 days prior to your in-service.  LinguiSystems is unable to accept late registrations.

Materials Provided

1. FREE Applying Ethical Decision Making in Speech-Language Pathology DVD
2. Downloadable course handout
3. ASHA paperwork for those who wish to receive FREE ASHA CEUs
   • Attendance Roster
   • Course Evaluation form
   • Self-Assessment of Learning
   • ASHA CEU Participant Form
4. Completion certificate for all participants

Author Biography

Helen Sharp, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, earned a bachelor of science in human kinetics at the University of Guelph in Ontario.  She completed her masters in speech pathology at the University of Pittsburgh with a primary interest in cleft lip and palate.  She worked at Loma Linda University Medical Center in southern California and became interested in biomedical ethics.  She pursued this interest by attending a fellowship program in clinical medical ethics at the University of Chicago.  She then completed her Ph.D. in Speech and Hearing Science at the University of Iowa.  Helen is currently Associate Professor at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, where she teaches Ethics and Counseling, Cleft Palate, and Introduction to Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Helen’s research interests blend her clinical experience in cleft palate, head and neck cancer, acute care, and pediatric rehabilitation with her training in bioethics.  She is interested in how patients (clients) define quality of life and how patients and clinicians approach the process of shared decision-making, for example, tube feeding decisions for patients with dysphagia.  She has published research, scholarly articles, and book chapters and given national and international presentations related to the application of bioethics to the field of speech-language pathology.

LinguiSystems, Inc. funded this presentation, Applying Ethical Decision Making in Speech-Language Pathology, in its entirety.