MONTANA SPEECH LANGUAGE HEARING ASSOCIATION

Amber Franklin, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

9:00-11:00

Racial health disparities are observed in fields as diverse as nursing, social work, and speech pathology and audiology. In this interactive presentation, participants will learn about the social factors that contribute to racial health disparities. Participants will also explore how the framework of cultural humility can be used to address health inequities in their profession and their communities.

Participants will be able to: 1) Identify social factors that contribute to racial health disparities. 2) Explain the difference between cultural competence, cultural responsiveness, and cultural humility. 3) Discuss strategies to address health disparities in our communities and in Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Time Ordered Agenda

5 minutes - Introduction

30 minutes - Social determinants of health

30 minutes - Cultural humility framework

10 minutes - Breakout group discussion

30 minutes - Strategies and somatic responses to strategies

10 minutes - Discussion small group and large group

5 minutes - Conclusion and wrap-up

Dr. Amber Franklin is an associate professor of Speech Pathology and Audiology at Miami University, located in Oxford, Ohio. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 2009. Her research and teaching interests include cross-linguistic and child phonology, English pronunciation instruction, Eastern Caribbean English dialects, and cultural and linguistic diversity. She is a 2018, Ohio Life Magazine, Excellence in Education Honoree and has received a Senatorial Citation from Ohio’s General Assembly and a Mayoral Citation from the City of Oxford for her commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Disclosures: Dr. Franklin is receiving an honorarium from the Montana Speech Language Hearing Association for this presentation. She has no non-financial relationships to report.

Kirsten Murray, Ph.D., LPC

11:15-2:15

This session introduces 10 basic counseling skills that strengthen the therapeutic alliance and address complex dynamics that include: resistance, impasse, grief and loss, and encounters with “isms.” Participants will understand the efficacy of a strong therapeutic relationship and the counseling skills necessary to establish an effective presence with clients, patients, and their families.

Participants will be able to: 1) Understand the efficacy of the therapeutic relationship. 2) Identify 10 core counseling skills, including: empathic response, paraphrasing, feeling reflections, immediacy, encouragement, active listening, genuine and congruent presence, respect for the client/patient, open questions, and broaching. 3) Apply the 10 core counseling skills to assist in complex cases (addressing resistance, grief and loss, “isms,” and impasse).

Time Ordered Agenda

10 minutes – Introduction

20 minutes – Overview of the therapeutic alliance.

90 minutes – Introduce and demonstrate 10 core counseling skills.

50 minutes – Apply counseling skills to case studies and role plays.

10 minutes – Summary, Conclusion, and Questions

Kirsten Murray, Ph.D., LPC is Professor and Chair of the Department of Counseling at the University of Montana. Kirsten has 19 years of counseling experience specializing in work with couples and families. As a counselor, she has treated individuals with acquired and developmental disabilities and their family caregivers. Her areas of academic interest include counselor preparation, supervision, and social justice issues in counseling. She is the recent author of the book Strong Couples: Basic Skills that Elicit Connection and Transform Relationships.

Disclosures: Dr. Murray is receiving an honorarium from the Montana Speech Language Hearing Association for this presentation, and is receiving a salary from the University of Montana. She has no non-financial relationships to report.

These sessions will be recorded and made available for asynchronous participation on August 14-24. To register for the recorded sessions

REGISTER: RECORDED ASYNCHRONOUS SESSION

The live webinar on Cultural Responsiveness & Counseling Skills for Transformational Practice will be recorded and available for viewing for 10 days (August 14-24). Registrants will need to complete viewing of the recorded webinar during this time and submit a self-study assessment by August 24, 2021 to receive CEU credit. A link to the recording and the assessment will emailed to registrants on August 14.

MSHA has had more success in the legislature this session and continues to follow other bills which concern healthcare professionals and the clients we serve. Here is a summary of bills we are currently following. Please watch for updates in the coming weeks.

UPDATE ON PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED BILLS:

The SLP/AuD Assistant bill (HB210) passed through both the House and the Senate and is scheduled to be signed by Governor Gianforte later this week. HB291, which requires coverage of amplification devices and services for kids with hearing loss passed the House and came out of Senate committee today with an 8-1 vote, so it is on to the Senate floor. Please consider contacting your Senator to urge support of this bill! Information about how to do that is located below.

OTHER BILLS MSHA IS FOLLOWING:

HB 233 is a bill that allows school funding for students receiving special education services up to their 21st birthday. This bill passed unanimously out of committee Tuesday and is also on its way to the Senate floor.

Two bills MSHA is following involve our transgender clients. These clients come to SLPs to help align their voices with their gender identity and this can greatly impact their quality of life, and even their safety (ASHA 2021). HB 112would require transgendered kids to compete in school sports in the gender they were assigned at birth. MSHA supports healthy activity for all kids, including the transgendered persons SLPs work with on voice modulation. HB 427 prohibits health care professionals from providing or referring for transitional surgery for transgendered youth. We are opposing this bill to stand with our peers in the medical field because the bill has huge liability consequences for health care professionals with very vague language. Both of these bills could be on the Senate floor as early as Thursday, so if you would like to contact your Senator about either or both of these bills, please do so ASAP.

See information on other bills we are following below.

CONTACTING YOUR LEGISLATOR:

The first preference is a direct call or email to your Senator. You can look up who your senator is at https://leg.mt.gov/map/. Once you know who your senator is, you can find their phone number and email here: https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/. A second option is to send a message through the legislative website, which you can do here: https://leg.mt.gov/web-messaging/. You can also call the switchboard and leave a message at 444-4800.

MSHA IS ALSO FOLLOWING:

1. HB 46: Revise Special Educaiton Funding (support)

2. HB 206: Revise education laws related to tuition and in-state treatment (support)

3. HB 328: Provide guidelines for assessing language development in deaf children (support)

4. HJ 19: Resolution designating May as ALS Awareness Month (support)

5. SB 236: Provide transparency in health care pricing (oppose)

6. SB 357:Generally revising requirements related to telehealth (monitor)

Please save the date for the upcoming interprofessional panel on April 22nd from 8:00-9:00 AM titled Overcoming Obstacles: Identifying Barriers and Opportunities in Telehealth During a Pandemic. Please see the attached flyer.

Update on MSHA activity in the 2021 Legislature

MSHA is working directly on 2 bills this year in the Legislature:

1) HB 210: SLPA Bill - (Link to bill text here) If enacted, this legislation would create SLPA as a position that has their own licensure, much as OTs and PTs have in their Montana licensure. As amended, SLPAs would be able to work in all settings, including telepractice, under the supervision of a fully-licensed SLP. The bill follows the new ASHA pathways for licensure for nationally-certified SLPAs. The University of Montana School Speech, Language, Hearing and Occupational Sciences has worked closely with ASHA certification guidelines to develop a program for students to follow one of the pathways to become a certified SLPA. This is the second session that MSHA has carried this bill to the legislature, and we hope it can be enacted this session. How can you help?

ADVOCACY for HB 210:

This bill has passed out of committee and has a hearing on the House floor Monday, February 8th. To watch, go to leg.mt.gov, select “watch and listen,” and then select "House Floor" at 1 pm. To contact your Representative, please use this legislator lookup link. Please urge your Representative to support this bill. Possible talking points are as follow:

• Montana has a shortage of fully-licensed SLPs and this bill could help the residents of our state have more access to the services they need, and ensure that services will be from a qualified provider who has met academic standards, completed a supervised clinical practicum, and has passed an exam approved by the Montana Board of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists.

• Under the supervision of a licensed audiologist or speech-language pathologist, licensed assistants could provide services in a wide variety of settings, including telepractice, to help fill voids where they exist in our state. Shortages of SLP/Audiology services occur in both rural and more urban settings across Montana.

• Currently, Montana law provides for registration of SLP and Audiology Aides/Assistants who must be “attached” to a fully-licensed SLP or Audiologist, instead of requiring them to obtain their own licensure, as Occupational Therapy Assistants and Physical Therapy Assistants must do in Montana.

2) HB 291: AN ACT REQUIRING COVERAGE OF AMPLIFICATION DEVICES AND RELATED SERVICES FOR CHILDREN WITH HEARING LOSS. (Link to bill text here). If enacted, this legislation would require insurance coverage sold in the group or individual market in Montana to provide coverage for diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss for a covered child 18 years of age or younger. As we know, this is so important for Montana kids and families, as both durable equipment for hearing loss and rehabilitation services can be expensive if not covered by insurance. This summer, the group Let Montana Hear (link on FB here!) spent many hours organizing and collecting data to be prepared for the first hearing. Information for that hearing is below.

ADVOCACY for HB 291:

The committee hearing scheduled for Monday, Feb. 15, 2021 at 3 pm in the Human Services committee. To listen, go to https://leg.mt.gov/, then go to "Watch & Listen" across the top banner. Scroll down to "House Human Services" and click Listen.

Let Montana Hear and MSHA are looking for individuals who wish to testify the the Human Services Committee, or submit comment to the committee. Anyone wishing to do so must use this link no later than Friday, Feb. 12 at 12:00 https://leg.mt.gov/session/have-your-say/ .

People can also email directly to the members of the Human Services Committee. Let Montana Hear has provided some excellent information, sample letters, and a list of committee members in the attachments provided below. Please forward this message on to anyone who you think would be interested in helping out.