Unnecessary treatment: is therapy still helping?

1Standard 3.5

1. Provide or continue therapy only when there is a reasonable prospect of benefit to the client (3.5.1).
2. Involve clients in deciding whether therapy offers that prospect (3.5.2).
3. When therapy seems no longer indicated or has ceased to be effective, discuss the option of discontinuing (3.5.3).

2CRPO's definitions

• Reasonable prospect of benefit: some likelihood the client's condition or well-being will stabilize or improve, as determined by clinical judgment.
• Indicated: suggested by symptoms or assessment, as appropriate.

3Why it matters

• Unnecessary therapy risks harm: false expectations and the client's time and money wasted.
• One goal of therapy is independence and autonomy from therapy.
• Clients with similar issues may respond differently to the same treatment: judge each case by the client's condition, the modality and the client's input.

4The misconduct rule

• Recommending or providing unnecessary treatment, or continuing when it is no longer indicated or has ceased to be effective, is misconduct (O. Reg. 317/12, para. 7).
• CRPO's Policy on Suitability to Practise lists services not in a client's best interest, unnecessary treatment included, as likely relevant to suitability.