In addition to other changes, the College proposed to re-name the standard to the Practice Standard- Supervision and Education of Students and Support Personnel. The most important change is the addition of a new section, which outlines a kinesiologist’s responsibilities for ensuring students and support personnel establish and maintain appropriate professional boundaries with patients/clients.
Background
In 2015, the government created the Sexual Abuse Task Force to examine the issue of sexual abuse in the healthcare context. The College has a zero tolerance policy towards sexual abuse of patients/clients, and is committed to the prevention of sexual abuse. Revising this standard to state that kinesiologists are responsible for the boundaries of students and support personnel is one of the ways the College is proactively working to further protect patients/clients.
A student or support personnel acts on the behalf of a regulated health professional. If they do not maintain appropriate boundaries, this is not just a violation of trust between them and the patient/client, but also between the patient/client and the supervising kinesiologist. A patient/client should always feel that they are receiving the same safe and ethical care from a student or support personnel as they would from the regulated health professional. Kinesiologists are responsible for ensuring this. View the College’s practice standards and guidelines.