Disclaimer: Law, rules and regulations, not Guidelines, specify the requirements for practice and violating them constitutes professional misconduct. Not adhering to this Guideline may be interpreted as professional misconduct only if the conduct also violates pertinent law, rules and regulations.
Informed Consent
It is the responsibility of the audiologist or speech-language pathologist (SLP) to ensure that the patient and/or the patient's parents or guardians understand the nature of the services being provided and have agreed to the provision of those services. A licensee should be able to document that s/he has the informed consent of the client or the client's parent/guardian before providing services.
Licensees should give clients, or their parents/guardians clear information on:
- the nature of the services that will be provided
- the approximate duration of treatment
- the expected effects of treatment, including benefits and possible negative effects
- confidentiality of records. Specifically, clients should be made a ware that no persons or agencies will have access to information about them and their treatment without their written permission
Note: Informed consent is a requirement in writing if a person is to participate in any form of research or in procedures currently under investigation. (See Experimental Treatment.)