Confidentiality and disclosure : assessment and intervention issues

This portfolio addresses the moral, ethical and legal issues that impact upon decisions to maintain or disclose confidential communications. The tensions and moral dilemmas that are created when a conflict between these aspects arises are considered. Risk assessment procedures that inform decisions to maintain or disclose confidential information are discussed, as are issues related to the practical implementation of planned interventions. The topic is addressed by firstly reviewing professional codes of conduct and legal requirements to maintain confidentiality. The limits of confidentiality and privileged communication are then reviewed together with legal requirements of “duty to warn” or “duty of care”. These requirements are then related to risk assessment procedures and relevant interventions. Four case studies that illustrate the practical application of assessment techniques in the decision process and planned interventions are presented. They cover such diverse topics as disclosure and suicidal intent, threat of harm to a third party, risk of transmission of the AIDS virus and “duty to warn” and maintenance of a minor’s confidential communications. The ways in which these issues were addressed and the outcome is presented. NOTE: All names and details that have the potential to identify the people whose cases are presented here have been changed to protect their anonymity.

Empowerment in early childhood intervention : perspectives of parents of children with disabilities

There have been various changes to the manner in which early intervention services for children with disabilities have been provided in recent decades. One of the most significant paradigm shifts that has accoured pertains to a change in the level of family involvement in early intervention, so that families are now required to be equal partners with professionals in the service provision process. It is now policy in Victoria that early intervention services follow a family-centred model of practice. Services adopting this model aim to empower parents, so that they may have impact on their lives, and the lives of their family members, both during and beyond the years of direct service participation. Much of what is known about empowerment to date is based on theory, author opinion, and research that is largely survey-based. There has been little interview-based research, particulary involving parents of children with disabilities, as well as little Australian research conducted regarding empowerment. To the researcher's knowledge, there has been no interview-based research that specifically asked parents of children with disabilities about their perspectives on empowerment and disempowerment. Parents of children with disabilities are not invited to contribute their opinions in services and research. Empowerment is an individual concept and this research provided parents with an opportunity to express their views on this topic. Parent's perspectives on empowerment are vital for service providers who aim to follow the intervention model required by policy. This research, which was guided by the principles of ecological theory and critical theory, involved to individual semi-structured interviews with 37 Victorian families of children with disabilities. Twenty-one of these families had children currently participating in early intervention services, and 16 families had children of mid-primary school age, who had previously participated in early intervention experiences; the factors that they believe influence empowerment and disempowerment; and helpful and unhelpful experiences with early intervention staff and other people in their lives. Data were analysed primarily inductively, in the context of grounded theory. Responses from the two groups of parents were then compared, as were different emergent themes according to helpfulness and empowerment. The nature of enduring empowerment, one of the key objectives of early childhood intervention, was also considered. From the analysis of data, several themes emerged as influential in the empowerment process for both groups of parents including: information, education and knowledge; meeting and talking with other families of children with disabilities; decision-making and choice; having confidence; participation, involvement and input; meeting or addressing families' practical needs; and having a child with a disability. The results of this research provide valuable information for parents, professionals, agencies, organisations, and the wider community, regarding how families can be supported more effectively and how power can be more equitably balanced.

Pulling schools up by their bootstraps : the case of a government intervention to raise standards in five 'under-performing' schools

This paper canvasses a school improvement intervention instigated by a government education department to raise the student achievement results of five schools in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne. The paper discusses the theory base of the intervention and the outcomes of its first stage which involved a preliminary survey of all students, teachers, assistant principals and principals from the schools involved. The survey results reveal discrepancies of opinions, perceptions, interests and ideas within these key groups. Future plans are discussed in light of both the findings from the first round of theory-building and other pertinent research concerning improving student learning outcomes.

Raising 'standards' in schools : considerations in the first stage of an improvement intervention

This article discusses the initial phase of a government-funded intervention to raise school achievement in a cluster of schools with below average standardised test results. Five schools - four primary schools and one secondary school - in the far outer reaches of Melbourne achieved lower standardised test scores in literacy and numeracy than the state average. Two departmental strategies were in place before my involvement the appointment of a coaching teacher in each school, and funding for a four day intensive residential professional learning workshop for these coaching teachers, to be held at the beginning of the 2009 school year. lt was at this stage that I became involved in what was planned to be an ongoing research program to record, monitor and evaluate the success of the intervention.

Scales of policy intervention : problematising high poverty contexts in South Australia.

Education policy intervention for schools in high poverty neighbourhoods has focused on the capacity of local schools to make a difference and on the kinds of co-ordinated human services provision that might support individual families with “high needs”. In this paper I suggest that a more detailed analysis of “the problem” represented in such schools might yield a richer and more integrated policy approach. I use the notion of “scale”, arbitrary and imperfect approximations of spheres of activity, and apply it to a specific context in Adelaide, South Australia, to demonstrate the connections between the local school and factors which impinge on its capacities to make a positive difference. I suggest that the implication of the analysis is a more holistic approach to policy.

Teaching like an artist : the pedagogic identities and practices of artists in schools

This article reports findings from an ethnographic study of the arts curriculum and pedagogy in a British primary school. The policy context for the study is the school's involvement in promoting creative partnerships between teachers and artists. The pedagogies of three different artist-led projects are analysed, using a Bernsteinian framework, and are characterised in relation to notions of 'competence' and 'performance' pedagogies. These characterisations are then used to consider the impact of the artists' pedagogies on teachers in the school, and the extent to which the different pedagogies promote inclusion. Broad conclusions are drawn about the relative difficulty of adopting competence pedagogies in the current educational culture of British schools; more specific conclusions are drawn about the importance of time, text, discourse and interpretation in arts pedagogies.

Fall risk management intervention : a feasibility and validation study

A fall risk management intervention was undertaken by staff caring for older people in nursing homes. Its acceptability and usefulness was tested. 'High risk times' and 'at risk' individuals were found, thereby identfying times when staff should be vigilant, and specific residents to be targeted with fall prevention strategies.

Violent offending : the efficacy of a unitary and transtheoretical intervention

Examines "best practice" in reducing recidivism. Compares two interventions for violent offenders, and examines whether their different theoretical orientations (unitary or transtheoretical) affected program efficiency. Although the transtheoretical intervention was more efficacious, insufficient adherence to best practice principles within implementation of both programs significantly impinged upon program success.

Assessing the legitimacy of humanitarian intervention : purpose, authority and means

This study looked at military deployments that seek to promote human rights, including operations in Somalia, Rwanda and Kosovo. While a legitimate humanitarian purpose and international authority for these missions can be demonstrated, finding the appropriate means of action - or how to best conduct the operation - remains very difficult, ensuring similar future missions will remain controversial.

Constructing a Malaysian early intervention programme for children with disabilities

This case study of a parent-initiated community project called Wings Melaka has helped improve provision of early intervention services to Malaysian children with disabilities, and their families, by making contributions specifically to the workplace at Wings Melaka, and more generally, to the much-neglected field of early intervention in Malaysia.