Confidentiality Laws on Abuse and Mental Health Treatment

Confidentiality Law
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Confidentiality Law
Introduction
With the changes in society and technological advancements, privacy has become a premium need for most people. It seems as if technology has slowly but gradually rendered privacy a thing of the past, making confidentiality noble. Still, even without the intrusive nature of technology, confidentiality has been part and parcel of human society, with laws put in place to protect or safeguard the same. Confidentiality rules become quite complicated when it comes to drug abuse and mental health matters. This is because there is usually a class between the confidentiality rules relating to sharing of information between mental health providers concerning the confidentiality rules between the various states.
Application
Rehabilitation and mental health institutions are usually expected to work as a unit, especially when it involves chronic cases. They are supposed to share information and records about patients if there is any transfer program or for the sake of ensuring the best possible method of handling the patients. They are supposed to do this while upholding the fundamental human values of their patients. Fundamental values of human service sectors include dignity, the welfare of all, honoring diversity, ensuring honesty, and respecting privacy. Different laws or policies have been instituted to ensure confidentiality in service provision, including HIPAA, CFR-42, and FERPA. Safeguarding information gathered in the domain of human service relationships is paramount towards the acknowledgment of the rights of every individual.
As a concept, confidentiality is about individual privacy and respect for people’s wishes. In human services, information shared within established relationships is not meant to be shared beyond the defined boundaries or parties involved (Corey, Corey & Callanan, 2010). For instance, in the helping process, what a client tells a social worker, should not be revealed to others, and it’s a professional’s responsibility to keep exchanged details confidential. Confidentiality also extends to other fields, such as education, where the information about a student is supposed to be kept private by the school unless it gets shared under extraordinary circumstances (Corey, Corey & Callanan, 2010). Parents and guardians might share such information with the institution to ensure their children are handled properly or understood in a given way.
Examples of confidentiality laws include the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), such as the CFR-42, which governs the privacy of patients with substance use disorder (SUD). For years, federal laws have protected the rights to privacy of individuals seeking treatment for substance abuse in federally assisted programs (Campbell et al., 2019). Confidentiality is the cornerstone of health intervention and relationships for such a population. Strict confidentiality protection means clients can share data about their past and present drug use without worrying the information could be used against them by the police, judges, social workers, or employers. As an element of priv...