- Title
- Resistance, paradox and professional identity in speech-language pathologists’ perceptions of working with assistants
- Creator
- O'Brien, Rachael Louise
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2018
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Over the past decade, research has been emerging regarding assistants in speech-language pathology, particularly in the UK, US and Canada, however, there is minimal information within NSW to support the implementation for the profession. The limited literature available for assistants in speech-language pathology has indicated some reluctance within the profession to utilise this workforce, despite recognition of some of the potential benefits. Similarly, most of this research has not directly investigated the principles underlying the perceptions of professionals. The present research investigates speech-language pathologists’ (SLPs’) perceptions of working with assistants and focuses on how these perceptions were formed. It examines factors such as consumer focus and the role of the larger health organisation in the formation of such perceptions. While assistants are utilised in the profession internationally and in some states of Australia, it is a workforce redesign that is yet to be embraced as usual practice by all SLPs. A preliminary step in resolving continuing ambivalence over assistants in speech-language pathology is to develop a greater understanding of how SLPs perceive assistants, how this impacts upon their own perceptions of self in terms of professional identity, roles and value within the organisation, and how the implementation of assistants may contribute to professionals, the profession, as well as to consumers and the community. This qualitative study aimed to provide rich subjective accounts of professional perceptions of a workforce redesign, with a focus on perceptions of individual experiences. The study comprises data from in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with 20 speech-language pathologists from various local health districts (LHDs) across NSW, Australia. The interviews collected information from practising SLPs and asked about experience and perceptions of working with assistants, role, as well as feelings of value within the health organisation and community. The participants were SLPs with between 1-25+ years’ experience, currently working in NSW, Australia. Participants were purposively sampled which allowed a range of clinical caseloads, work patterns, age and clinical experience. The principles of interpretative phenomenological analysis were employed to allow deep exploration of perceptions and experiences, as well as principles derived from specific relevant frameworks from Smith, Flowers and Larkin (2009) and Liamputtong and Ezzy (2005). The findings of this research emerged from deep analysis of interviews. The research finds that participants highly value their position as a speech-language pathologist and use this as a marker for their own as well as other groups’ status within the larger organisation. This research presents participants’ perceptions of a workforce change involving the introduction of assistants in an area without current policies guiding their utilisation. It illustrates how SLPs not currently working with assistants may view the workforce change, and how working with assistants may impact on their understanding of their current role and status within the organisation. This research emphasises the need for greater understanding of the construction and maintenance of professional identities in a changing workforce. The findings of this study suggest that while working with assistants is a workforce model which has benefits for individual clinicians, professions, consumers, and organisations, real or perceived professional identity threat is a significant source of resistance to such change. Similarly, the findings suggest that a major source of professional identity formation amongst participants includes their relationships and advocacy role with their patients and clients, who are often perceived as vulnerable. These relationships are perceived to be threatened by the introduction of assistants, and as a result, participants perceived that the profession was at risk of losing the strongly held value of consumer focus. For this thesis, empirical research has been undertaken into SLPs’ perceptions regarding assistants. The findings have been disseminated through six papers (as well as four additional contributions including literature review, oral presentations, and posters). This thesis integrates the papers and research output into the overall change management and identity literature and proposes future planning strategies for professions and organisations. The findings of this research have the potential to inform future workforce planning regarding the assistant workforce across health professions; what factors precede resistance, what resistance may be expected, and how to mitigate such resistance. Additionally, it discusses the potential for professions and professional organisations to be more, not less inclusive of a vocational tier of their workforce and identifies that an assistant workforce provides a non-traditional pathway into professions. This, in turn, has the potential to provide greater workforce diversity, allowing better reflexivity and responsivity to consumer need.
- Subject
- resistance; paradox; professional identity; speech-language pathology; assistants; thesis by publication
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1393825
- Identifier
- uon:33615
- Rights
- Copyright 2018 Rachael Louise O'Brien
- Language
- eng
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 5 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 266 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |