Introduction/rationale:
Victoria University embarked on a speech pathology combined degree program in 2020, with a vision of being the "best in the West". Alongside the development of the course was the release of the new Speech Pathology Australia Professional standards. This course has been designed with a unique model of knowledge, skills, attributes as well as competency development in the speech pathology communication domains. This research presents the implications of implementing the revised professional standards for transferable skills-based instruction.

This research will investigate:
(a) student perspectives on skills-based instruction
(b) educators' perspectives on developing a competency-based speech pathology degree
(c) lessons learned from designing a degree in changing times

Methods:
Students and academic teaching staff will be recruited to participate in focus groups. Reflexive thematic coding will be used to analyse responses. Initial open codes will be drawn from each question response and a constant comparison method will be used for coding, collapsing the codes and finalising the codes between the researchers to produce axial coding (Creswell, 2009).

Results and conclusion:
The study is ongoing, and the results and conclusion will be presented at the conference.

Contribution to new knowledge: This research will demonstrate student and academic teaching staff perspectives on using a skills-based approach to develop transferrable skills in the profession.

Implications for practice and/or policy: This research has the potential to influence speech pathology instruction according to the new professional standards.

Keywords: Professional standards; competency; transferable skills; student education; teaching

Over recent years, staff in supervisory roles in Central Coast Local Health District (CCLHD) identified a rising incidence of mental health issues in their supervisees. They reported feeling ill-equipped to provide an effective and supportive response to staff experiencing psychological distress, whilst also ensuring that quality patient care is upheld.

Aim
The National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing (2020-21) reported that one in five people aged 16-34 experienced high or very high levels of psychological distress.
The aim of this project is to assist Allied Health managers, supervisors and educators within CCLHD to:
- be aware of the heightened risk of mental ill-health in their supervisees,
- increase their capacity to recognise and respond effectively to staff/students experiencing psychological distress,
- recognise what reasonable adjustments look like in the mental health context.

Method
Data was obtained to determine the level of confidence that staff had in the themes highlighted in the project aim. An interactive workshop, AMPing It Up, was then developed, incorporating case studies, virtual reality activities, and problem-based learning. The workshop will be delivered in late 2022.

Results
Post-workshop data will be collected in order to evaluate the effectiveness in achieving the project aims. Results and lesson learned will be discussed.

Conclusion
Supervising clinicians have a responsibility to foster a culture of support in managing mental health issues with their staff. In response to the high incidence of psychological distress in those aged under 35, this project highlights the importance of recognising, understanding and responding to mental ill-health in our workplace.


Key words – supervision, anxiety management, reasonable adjustments

Submission statement – this workshop evolved in response to supervising clinicians seeking assistance in supporting staff experiencing mental health issues. It is relevant to all Allied Health disciplines, and was designed collaboratively by the CCLHD Speech Pathology Clinical Educator and Allied Health Education Consultant.

Introduction
University academic language development programs may not always attract students most needing support, nor address the high level of communication required to effectively provide speech pathology services. This paper describes a university-wide academic language development (ALD) framework that was enhanced to support student speech pathologists (SSPs) undertaking a master’s program.

Implementation
The enhanced ALD framework was implemented from orientation week when all students at the university, regardless of language background, completed a compulsory online academic language screener receiving immediate results (level 1, 2, or 3). SSPs scoring below level 3 completed a discipline-specific task to establish goals and were required to participate in follow-up ALD tasks, developing personalised plans, recording progress, reflecting on success, and attending group support/progress meetings. Whole-of-cohort written and oral milestone tasks were incorporated into academic assessments. Students scoring below level 3 on milestones were also referred for follow-up.

Outcomes
University policy regarding the compulsory, though non-punitive nature of the framework supported student compliance and teams at university and discipline level supported implementation logistics. Screening and support increased SSPs’ self-monitoring of academic language and employment of strategies (proofreading, use of Grammarly). Milestone tasks identified additional students requiring support at each stage (83.4% of students scoring level 1-2 in an oral milestone, were not previously identified).

Conclusion
The enhanced ALD framework provided promising outcomes and positive experiences for SSPs and staff. Refinements will include earlier oral screening, and tracking and evaluating academic outcomes to ensure SSPs’ oral and written language skills meet their academic and professional needs.

Keywords: speech pathology students, discipline-specific language support

Statement: Delegates will be encouraged to reflect on methods for supporting SSPs’ academic language development, respecting students as individuals through use of self-directed learning activities, and the need to provide responsive services with potential to capture students who speak English as their home language yet struggle with academic language.

Introduction: New graduate programs provide a bridge to scaffold competency development, as graduates’ transition from life as a student, to life as a clinician. Professional skills are developed, clinical realities are learned, and ongoing refinement of clinical skills continue.
Aim(s): Evaluate the perspectives of a new graduate program aimed at building clinician competency, with supporting clients who have multifaceted needs.
Methods: New graduate speech-language pathologists (n = 14) who work for a registered National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provider of allied health services, participated in individual or group focus sessions. Focus sessions were semi-structured. Questions probed facilitators, and barriers, of the new graduate program, and explored future directions.
Results: Descriptive analysis (quantitative) and thematic analysis (qualitative) of the data was conducted. Practical application of knowledge and interacting and sharing experiences were identified as facilitators. The new graduates reported further case studies would have supported their learning, and further knowledge on navigating the NDIS. It was recommended that future programs promote professional skills (such as building collegial relationships, time management, and case load management), and further capacity building of clinical skills (such as increasing knowledge of alternative and augmentative communication and social communication intervention).
Conclusions: New graduates require scaffolded support to facilitate their progression from being a student to being a clinician. New graduate programs provide opportunities for peer learning, engagement in positive workplace practices, and building clinical competency. Empowering clinicians with professional skills and building clinical knowledge is needed to support new graduates, working with clients, who have multifaceted needs.
Theme Statement:
Reflecting on perspectives of a new graduate program, respects new graduates’ voices regarding their own learning and experiences. The findings from this quality-improvement project facilitates direction for how workplaces can respond to empower new graduates, to work successfully, and support their clients with achieving their goals.

Introduction

Speech pathology services are in high demand in the practice context of the NDIS. The new graduate workforce will continue to be a key avenue to service the growing need for allied health workers in the NDIS. Mentoring and professional development of new graduates were identified as potential challenges as the disability workforce transitioned to the structure of the NDIS.

Aim(s)

We compare the recommendations for the development of new graduate speech pathologists working in the NDIS outlined by Hines and Lincoln (2016) with the practices of a for-profit registered provider of allied health, nine years into the roll out. We aim to add practice-based insights into the provision of support for new graduates to the evidence base for providers of NDIS services.

Methods

We conducted surveys with speech pathologists at various stages within their new graduate year to gain insight into their perceptions of mentoring, their engagement in professional development, and their confidence across areas of practice.

Results

Preliminary data suggest that new graduate speech pathologists are relying on support provided by their employer for upskilling specific to their caseload. New graduates’ perceptions of support and confidence in practice areas are not necessarily correlated.

Conclusions

Confidence in graduate clinicians may be a key factor in retention for NDIS providers, however, further research needs to assess the clinical supports that increase the confidence of newer graduates. Factors including having a supervisor on site and making joint appointments readily available do not appear to have a consistent effect on confidence.

Keywords - graduate, workforce, mentoring, confidence, supervision, NDIS

Submission Statement: Published commentary about supporting graduate and early career speech pathologists precedes the broad implementation years. This abstract reflects on the actual experiences of graduates and for-profit NDIS providers and calls upon others to respond to recommendations to build a robust disability workforce with confidence graduate clinicians.