Problem
Case Study- Sandy is a 15-year-old girl and has just been referred to a supported accommodation service. During the intake process, the worker Josie identifies that Sandy has some mental health concerns that have not yet been treated. Sandy also discloses that the reason she cannot live at home is that her mother's boyfriend has been sexually abusing her and her mother shows little interest in her mental wellbeing. She tells Josie that she has not reported to the police or child protection and does not want to because she is safe now.
Josie decides that a priority must be getting Sandy mental healthcare, so she identifies a youth mental health service and completes their referral form with all Sandy's personal information and sends it to them. The next time she sees Sandy, she tells her she has referred her to the mental health service.
A few days after Sandy enters the accommodation, Josie overhears another worker discussing Sandy's case. She says, 'What can you expect from a broken family? I'm not surprised she came from an abusive household'. Josie asks the worker to come and talk to her about Sandy and the worker tells Josie that she does not think it's appropriate to have someone who is 'crazy' in the accommodation as she 'may be dangerous'. Following the inclusive values of the organisation, there are also staff members with hearing impairments and learning difficulties such as dyslexia.
i. Under what circumstances is it acceptable to disclose private or confidential information?
ii. What processes can you use to ensure Sandy's information remains private and confidential? Give two examples in your answer.
iii. Identify one example of discrimination in this situation. For the example, what legal or ethical issues would you consider when communicating to ensure discrimination does not occur?
iv. Identify two duty of care issues in this situation and explain how you would use communication to ensure duty of care is upheld.
v. What legal and ethical processes and protocols would you follow with regards to mandatory reporting in this case?
vi. What does informed consent mean? Did Sandy give informed consent? Give reasons for your answer.
vii. Explain how you would ensure legal and ethical considerations were met with regards to gaining informed consent from Sandy.