Confidentiality issue when dealing with children with mental disability and behavior
Confidentiality when dealing with children with mental health and behavior is a legal requirement that must be observed by a psychiatrist. Children with a mental disability exhibit different types of abnormal behaviors, and as a psychiatrist, it’s a legal requirement to counsel and train those children with care and keep all the information concerning their mental health of the child with a high level of confidentiality because the failure to treat such information with confidentiality results into court proceedings, as a result, the psychiatrist will have to pay a fine and can even be blocked from performing other duties in that field of dealing with children with mental disability. It is argued that exposing the behavior of children with mental disability to the public or third party by the psychiatric is a violation of the affected child’s rights. Such an act results in a legal contest in the court (Birkenmaier, & Berg-Weger, 2018).
When dealing with the confidentiality issue, it becomes hard for the psychiatrist to ask for advice from third parties if the condition is beyond the psychiatrist’s knowledge and experience. Asking for assistance from the second party may be the source of sharing confidential information about the child’s mental disability and behavior, resulting in the court proceedings. The only way to be on the right side of the law is for the psychiatrist to refer the case to another professional with high working experience on the specific field under the investigation. Complying with the confidentiality issue does not provide an opportunity for growth of expertise for the psychology professional, hence negatively influencing a career development path.
Reference
Birkenmaier, J., & Berg-Weger, M. (2018). The practicum companion for social work: Integrating class and fieldwork (4th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.