International Clinical Standards and Cultural Practices in Speech-Language Pathology Graduate Education: A Model from Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

Global directions is one of seven societal trends identified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA, 2010) as expected to influence the profession of speech-language pathology (SLP) worldwide. In the Caribbean country of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), only a small cohort of SLPs currently provide private service delivery. To increase the number of qualified practitioners, a graduate SLP program has been proposed. The program must reflect the values of the Trinbagonian people, while aligning competencies and standards of evidence-based practice with the World Health Organization's (WHO, 2011) 21st-century mandate. The 12 SLPs currently practicing in T&T were surveyed about their international graduate educational and clinical experiences and service delivery practices in T&T. They were invited to indicate which of the 2014 Standards and Implementation Procedures for the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (ASHA, 2012) would be necessary for graduate SLP program preparation in T&T and what additional content and/or clinical skill areas would be needed for competent culturally sensitive service delivery. The results indicated that all Trinbagonian practitioners support a graduate program modeled on the 2014 SLP Certification Standards, but they identified challenges to service delivery in T&T that need to be addressed in specific graduate program coursework and clinical education.