A Simple Case Study : a Community of Practice of Speech Therapists
This Case Study wants to illustrate how simple and useful a community of practice can be for professionals of any kind
Communities of Practice (CoPs), defined in simple words "are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly" (Etienne Wenger).
This group of 5 women who meet regularly in this German town, not far away from Stuttgart, are not aware that they belong to a CoP, although they have been meeting regularly for the last 15 years or more.
When H. told me about these meetings, I just exclaimed "but you have built a community of practice!"
Why is it so?
- They shared a domain of knowledge (Speech therapy)
- They shared practices (interventions in the field of speech therapy)
- They belonged to a community
Speech therapists work in different settings: for example hospitals, health centres, day-care centres, ... and/or can be self-employed and have their own practice.
The 5 women are self-employed with in some cases have 1 to 4 employees. They work and live in the same area and although they are somewhat "competitors" they decided that it was in their own interest to meet regularly.
What are the objectives of these meetings?
When they first met, there were no specific objectives set for these meetings, but there was an implicit goal : to remain at the top of the field and distinguish themselves from the rest of the local competition.
What do they do during these meetings?
- They share information coming from the trade unions or professional associations they belong to;
- They share information about training sessions they went to or delivered themselves;
- They discuss "difficult" cases they had to deal with;
- They discuss local actions they could have in their eco-system (informing doctors on specific regulations regarding prescription of speech therapy ; training teachers at schools ; meeting with political representatives, ...).
What can we learn from this case?
- You don't need to be hundreds or thousands to built a community of practice
- You don't need to meet every week to belong to a community of practice
- You don't even have to have a formal structure with objectives and rules (although it will be required stuff in a larger community of practice)
You only need:
- trust,
- a common interest, a specific domain,
- shared practices,
- short and long term benefits gained from your participation in the activities of the community
And
- consistency over time ...
Appendix :Responsibilities of a speech therapist
- Your tasks will vary depending on your client and the nature of the problem. However, you'll typically need to:
- identify the speech and communication difficulty or disorder;
- assess the cause and nature of the problem, for example, congenital problems (such as cleft palate) or acquired disorders after a stroke or injury;
- devise and deliver a suitable treatment programme, working on a one-to-one basis or in groups, to enable each of your clients to improve as much as possible;
- review and revise the programme as appropriate;
- advise carers on implementing a treatment programme and train other professionals in therapy delivery;
- monitor and evaluate your clients' progress;
- write confidential client case notes and reports, as well as information for clients, carers and other professionals;
- manage a caseload while taking into account priority cases, waiting lists, successful outcomes, referral and discharge of service users;
- work within a team to improve the effectiveness of service delivery.
Source: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/speech-and-language-therapist