At its November 23, 2018 meeting, the CMTBC Board approved a new standard of practice on consent. The standard of practice clearly defines expectations for RMTs in terms of how to obtain consent from patients for delivery of massage therapy. It includes:

• A definition of consent;
• Fourteen detailed requirements for RMTs to follow when obtaining consent from patients;
• An appendix with definitions of terms used in the consent standard;
• An “Application to Practice” section that outlines requirements for determining a patient’s capacity to give consent, obtaining consent from minors, communicating during the consent process, and documenting consent.

The consent standard goes into effect January 15, 2019. Read the standard of practice on consent.

To complement the new standard, CMTBC will post resources in early 2019, including: case studies showing how to apply the consent standard of practice; FAQs about the consent standard; and a summary of legislation relating to consent.

CMTBC started researching and developing the consent standard of practice in 2016. RMTs and public representatives on the Patient Relations Committee and the Quality Assurance Committee contributed to the process, as did staff.

At its August 24, 2018 meeting, the CMTBC Board approved the release of a proposed consent standard of practice for an eight-week notice period, from August 27 to October 22, 2018. Feedback was invited and received. The College thanks RMTs and members of the public for providing feedback, which helped CMTBC clarify and improve the proposed standard of practice.

“The new standard of practice on consent provides guidance to RMTs about how to inform and communicate with their patients about treatment, and how to obtain patients’ informed consent based on that information,” says CMTBC Registrar and CEO Eric Wredenhagen.

Under section 19 of the Health Professions Act, the CMTBC Board may establish “standards, limits or conditions” for practice as part of its Bylaws. The consent standard is the second of a number of new stand-alone standards of practice that will complement CMTBC’s Code of Ethics and ultimately replace Schedule “D” of the CMTBC Bylaws.

The CMTBC Board approved a standard of practice on professional boundaries in June 2018. CMTBC is developing standards of practice on scope of practice and other topics.