| The American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics is a guide for the counseling profession, with its latest revision published in 2014. Every counselor is responsible for reading, understanding, and following the ACA Code of Ethics and its subsequent revisions. Counselors need to know and adhere to applicable laws and regulations related to the recent modernization of the code. A current review of literature yielded no other studies addressing counselors' understanding and application of the change in the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics pertaining to confidentiality and disclosure, revealing a gap in extant research in this area.;This phenomenological study examines the revision to confidentiality and privacy, Section B.2.c., "Contagious, Life-Threatening Diseases", in the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics as it relates to the understanding, application, and training needs of LPCs in North Carolina. The researcher addressed ethical concerns associated with third-party disease notification, coining the term justified disclosure. Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) Theory provide a conceptual framework to study LPCs' lived experiences with "duty to inform" and "justified disclosure" of health information to third parties placed at risk for contracting a life-threatening, communicable disease. Using this conceptual framework to underpin the data analysis process, the current study explored the independent knowledge, beliefs, and pre- and post-revision practices of LPCs. It also examined determinants of ACA Code of Ethics revision adherence and obtained a collective perspective of counselors' knowledge of the disclosure process.;Data from Personal History Demographic Questionnaires, Individual Written Questionnaires, and focus group discussions were collected and analyzed for themes and subthemes using content analysis. The emerging themes related to LPCs' understanding and application of the revision to confidentiality and privacy section were "deprivation of information" and "responsibility to others".;The results indicated that LPCs lack information, have limited resources, and find it necessary to search for information based on nonexistent guidelines and training opportunities for justified disclosure of health information to third parties placed at risk for contraction of a life-threatening, communicable diseases. Yet there appears to be consensus concerning LPCs' responsibility to their clients, community, and the profession. Due to the complexities of this revision, counselors received a new set of responsibilities likely to leave even the most seasoned counselor with unanswered questions. Through this study's examination of the issue, counselors have the potential to obtain a greater understanding of expectations, pitfalls, and strategies for ethical decision-making related to their legal "duty to inform". |
