ASHA Strategic Plan

Issue C

Fourth Quarter Progress Report (October - December)

Issue C: Facilitating Team Leaders, Lemmie McNeilly and Vic Gladstone

Issue C: A comprehensive scope of practice that includes all of the major components and new areas of practice in communication sciences and disorders enhances the visibility of the professions by consumers and stakeholders and their perceived value of the role of audiologists and speech-language pathologists.

Outcome 1: Revised ASHA scopes of practice that includes all major component areas of communication sciences and disorders and new areas of practice.

Strategies

1. By March 31, 2006, the Professional Practices Clusters [Speech-Language Pathology (SLP), and Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA] will have reviewed the current scope of practice in Speech-Language Pathology to determine if there are any new areas of practice that need to be added. [Completed]
2. By March 31, 2006, the Professional Practices Clusters [Speech-Language Pathology (SLP), and Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA] will have informed the Vice-President for Professional Practices in Speech-Language Pathology of any new areas of practice that should be added to the scope of practice. [Completed]

Outcome 2: Increased number of practitioners who are involved in such areas as literacy, wellness, prevention, and other underserved areas of practice.

Strategies

1. By December 31, 2006, the Professional Practices Clusters [Speech-Language Pathology (SLP), Audiology (AUD), and Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA] in collaboration with the ASHA Professional Development unit will have planned professional development activities related to the roles of speech-language pathologists and audiologists related to literacy, wellness, prevention, and other underserved areas of practice. [Completed]
2. By December 31, 2006, the School Services unit will have disseminated information and provided training on the process for determining workload to decision makers/policymakers as a way of promoting the role of the speech-language pathologists in literacy, wellness, prevention, and other underserved areas of practice. [Completed]
3. By December 31, 2006, the Professional Practices Clusters [Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) and Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA] will have developed information/brochures for dissemination to other professions on the scope of practice in speech-language pathology and the role of the speech-language pathologist in literacy, wellness, prevention, and other underserved areas of practice. [Completed]
4. By December 31, 2006, the Professional Practices Clusters [Speech-Language Pathology (SLP), Audiology (AUD), and Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA] will have developed and disseminated information to ASHA members on use of IDEA procedures for early intervening as it relates to literacy, wellness, prevention, and other underserved areas of practice. [Completed]
5. By December 31, 2006, the Audiology Professional Practices Cluster in collaboration with the ASHA Sponsorship Unit will have developed activities related to the Energizer project partnership to promote the hearing health and awareness of noise induced hearing loss. [Completed]
6. By December 31, 2006, the Professional Practices Clusters [Speech-Language Pathology (SLP), Audiology (AUD), and Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA] in collaboration with the Public Relations unit will have disseminated "Let's Talk" documents to consumers and other professionals to promote the role of the speech-language pathologist and audiologist in the areas of literacy, wellness, prevention, and other underserved areas of practice. [Completed]
7. By December 31, 2006, the Professional Practices Clusters [Speech-Language Pathology (SLP), Audiology (AUD), and Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA] have made ASHA policy documents related to literacy, wellness, prevention, and other underserved areas of practice available to consumers and other professionals. [Completed]
8. By December 31, 2006, the Academic Affairs unit will have provided relevant ASHA policy documents and related ASHA resources (e.g., Website links, brochures) to all academic programs in communication sciences and disorders to promote acquisition of knowledge and skills in the areas of literacy, wellness, prevention, and other underserved areas of practice as identified by the Professional Practices Clusters. [Completed]

Outcome 3: Increased advocacy for and use of public and private reimbursement systems that enhance the ability of consumers to receive quality programs and services in all education and health practice settings.

Strategies

1. By October 31, 2006, the Ethics unit will have informed ASHA members of the availability of the Issues in Ethics Statement on "Representation of Services for Insurance Reimbursement and Funding." [Completed]
2. By December 31, 2006, the School Services unit will have disseminated ASHA documents related to "under the direction of" to school-based members, program administrators, and policy makers to increase their awareness of how school-based speech-language pathologists who are providing services under the state Medicaid program should comply with the "under the direction of" Medicaid provision. [Completed]
3. By December 31, 2006, the Health Care Services unit and the Health Care Economics Advocacy Team will have made available to ASHA members documents on private practice business practices that include information on use of and billing for public and private reimbursement systems. [Completed]

Outcome 4: Increase perceived value by consumers, stakeholders, and colleagues in related professions of the services provided by audiologists and speech-language pathologists.

Strategies

1. By September 1, 2006, the State Advocacy unit will have worked with state regulatory agencies to clarify the role of the speech-language pathologist in early intervention to determine if licensed/certified speech-language pathologists are allowed to provide early intervention services. [Completed]
2. By December 31, 2006, the Audiology Professional Practices Cluster, Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) Cluster along with the Public Relations Department will have created, produced and disseminated the Speech, Language, and Hearing Milestones: Birth to Age Five Audiology/SLP video/DVD related to typical normal speech and language hearing development. [Completed]
3. By December 31, 2006, the Audiology Professional Practices cluster will have worked with other national professional organizations and consumer groups interested in hearing health care to identify barriers to access hearing health care. [Completed]
4. By December 31, 2006, the Audiology Professional Practices cluster will have conducted a childhood hearing loss survey to determine why hearing aides available for children are underutilized. [Completed]
5. By December 31, 2006, the School Services unit will have developed and disseminated PowerPoint presentations on the role of school-based speech-language pathologists for use by members to provide information for consumers and other professionals. [Completed]
6. By December 31, 2006, the Professional Practices Clusters [Speech-Language Pathology (SLP), Audiology (AUD), and Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA] will have prepared and disseminated information on health literacy for consumers. [Completed]
7. By December 31, 2006, the Health Care Services unit and the Audiology Professional Practices cluster will have disseminated information to other national organizations and professionals on the role of the speech-language pathologist and audiologist related to telehealth/telepractice. [Completed]
8. By December 31, 2006, the Professional Practices Clusters in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology will have submitted articles related to the practice of speech-language pathology and audiology for publication in other professional journals that provide related services for individuals with communication disorders. [Completed]

Outcome 5: Increased knowledge of the scope of practice in communication sciences and disorders in other countries.

Strategies

1. By June 30, 2006, the Professional Practices Clusters [Speech-Language Pathology (SLP), Audiology (AUD), and Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA] will have subscribed to professional journals from international organizations related to the practice of speech-language pathology and audiology. [Completed]
2. By December 31, 2006, the Special Interest Division and International Liaison unit will have contacted IALP member organizations and other international organizations to obtain their scopes of practice and information related to use of telehealth/telepractice. [Completed]
3. By December 31, 2006, selected members of the Professional Practices Clusters [Speech-Language Pathology (SLP), Audiology (AUD), and Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA] will have participated in international meetings related to speech-language pathology and audiology held in the United States. [Completed]
4. By December 31, 2006, selected members of the Professional Practices Clusters [Speech-Language Pathology (SLP), Audiology (AUD), and Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA] will have participated on international committees of other organizations and non-governmental organizations related to communication sciences and disorders. [Completed]

There are 25 Strategies in the work plan for Issue C. Following is the status for the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th quarters.