Feminist and virtue perspectives on the ethics of public health research Wendy Rogers Associate Professor Medical Ethics and Health Law Flinders University Ethics Centre of South Australia

2 Challenges in public health research ethics  Potential for harms and benefits to affect many people  Multi-disciplinary research staff  Overlap between research and practice  Low levels of funding for public health

3 Traditional research ethics Individualistic focus  Informed consent  Balance of harms and benefits for individual

4 Traditional public health ethics  Power of utilitarianism: the greatest good for the greatest number  Potentially blind to individual or group inequities  Focus on allocation of material goods: distributive justice/utility  Little focus on processes

5 A difficult union  No easy way to unite the principles of research ethics with public health  Problems with utilitarianism

6 Feminist public health ethics  Addressing inequities  Procedural justice: exercising capacities and determining actions  Distributive justice: fair shares  Rich empiricism in research  Political solutions for political problems

7 Virtues in PH research ethics  Honesty –Building trust –Countering paternalism –Exposing risks  Courage –Physical –Political

8 An example from research practice The project: Starting Well Trial of an early childhood visiting program and community development program

9 Research with the community  Community consultation about interventions  Community decision: baby massage

10 The baby massage lessons  Address inequities  Focus on procedural justice  Demand fair shares  Use rich empiricism in research  Seek political solutions  Honesty  Courage

11 Ethical public health research  Addresses inequities  Justice in processes –exercising capacities –determining actions  Justice in distributions: fair shares of benefits  Supports virtues in researchers  Engages politically