|
Overall description / Legal basis
In Germany
the education and the profession of speech and language therapists
(Logopäden) is regulated and protected by law since 1980. Speech and
language therapy is part of the national health system. Therapy is
prescribed by medical doctors and paid by the health insurance funds. Speech
and language therapists work as liberal profession in private practises
(3143 SLTs/dbl) or employed in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, private
practises and so on (3252 SLT’s/dbl). They also work in public institutions
like schools for handicapped children, health administration centers etc. In
those cases speech and language therapy is a public service. About 9000
speech and language therapists are organised in the dbl and
91% of them are women.
There are 1229 SLTs (members
of the dbl), who are not working in their profession and an unknown number
of therapists who are not member of any professional organisation.
Additional 2400 professionals from various educational backgrounds also work
in the field of speech and language therapy. Germany has 81.800.00
inhabitants, so that is an
average of 7175 inhabitants per speech and language therapist. |
|
Organisation of SLT in the country
The service of
speech and language therapy in the health system is regulated by special
guidelines for the prescription of SLT of the Ministry of Health. SLT is
prescribed by medical doctors (Pediatricians, ENT-doctors, Phoniatricians)
according to those guidelines and is carried out by the SLT’s. Formally the
medical doctors decide if a patient has the need of therapy and they also
decide upon the diagnosis. Of course every SLT makes his own assessments and
diagnosis as well as therapy plan and documentation of therapy. For children
the costs of the therapy are totally paid by the health insurance funds,
adults have to pay 10% of the whole costs themselves. |
Education / training
(BA/MA/PG)
Speech and language therapists are trained
in Germany since 1960. In 1980 the law regulating the education and the exam
including the allowance to be titled as a Speech and Lanuage therapist was
established. The educational program is an undergraduate one consisting of
1740 theoretical and 2100 practical hours in three years. The students award
a state regulated diploma and an allowance to practise as an SLT. About 1389
students are members of the dbl and are educated in about 75 schools for
SLT. The students are mostly women and 90% of them have the bac. The schools
have to fulfil certain quality criteria such as number of staff, connection
with a clinic etc. and they are controlled by the local authorities. About
257 SLT’s work as teachers in the educational programs for speech and
language therapists.
Additional
there is a strong tendency to develop university programs in Germany, which
can be attended after initial education to achieve an academic degree e.g.
in Aachen, Berlin, Bielefeld, Emden, Hildesheim and also one basic academic
program in Idstein, qualifying students as speech and language therapists
with a Dutch BA-degree.
The dbl tries to establish the intitial
training for SLT on university level since about 15 years. It was
unsuccessful up to now because of the hierarchies in the national health
system, the necessity of changing a law and the increasing costs.
|
|
Authorisation / license /
recognition of diploma
SLTs are allowed to work with their
regulated exam and the allowance to be titled speech and language therapists
which is formally given to the students by the local authorities of the
region. |
|
Recognition of professional
qualifications obtained abroad
Depending on the different regions in
Germany the local government, the Chief administrator, the regional council
or the regional health department is responsible for the accreditation of
speech and language therapists from other countries. The procedures are very
different and variable. Some local authorities impose various conditions on
the applicant. The dbl recommends the equivalence of the education and a
good mastering of German. |
|
Status of the profession and
the professional + income/salary
Many
speech and language therapists work as liberal professionals but they depend
on the prescriptions of the medical doctors. The costs of one therapy
session are laid down in special agreements with the health insurance funds
and vary between 30,00-34,00 Euro per 45 minutes of treatment. The income
varies enormously according to the basic costs of the practise and the
number of patients that are treated (average:?). Employed SLT’s often depend
on other academic professions in the health system and they seldom occupy an
authorised position. The salary is regulated by the BAT (Bundesangestellten-tarif)
and varies between BAT VI-IV (average in numbers:?)
|
|
Professional association
The dbl is the only professional
organisation for speech and language therapists in Germany and has 9000
members.
There is another organisation, the “dbs”:
“Deutscher Bundesverband der akademischen Sparchtherapeuten".
This organisation consists mostly of
special teachers for speech and language problems and clinical linguists,
who work authorised in private practises. |
|
Further information / Useful links
www.dbl-ev.de
/ info@dbl-ev.de
|
|
Author / reference
Susanne Daniel/BKIB
of the dbl and commission of education and professional profile of the CPLOL |
