Health Care Ethics

List of Topics The definition of various health institutions and Explanation of the different health professions. Ethics of Health Professions practitioners. The difference between law and ethics of health practitioners . The system of profession practice : Definition and professional errors). Ethics in Islam (Introduction to the history of medicine and ethics of Muslims). Therapeutics and its provisions. Jurisprudence of health professions practice.

Etiquette and ethics in learning. General manners in learning and in dealing with teachers and professors, technicians and others. Etiquette with peers (intellectual property rights : the fight against fraud). The rights and duties of the patient, health practitioners, the community and the ethics of research in the field of health (controls of research and experiments on living organisms and on humans too).

Why Ethics Become Important? Nowadays, conflicts of interests between the government and medical institutions, between medical institutions and medical personnel, between physicians and patients are getting more and more serious and complex. High technologies not only brought us hopes of cure but have also created a heavy economic burden. The ethical dilemmas of brain death, organ transplantation, and concerns about quality of life-have become increasingly prominent. A new and more specific ethics must be developed to meet the demands of social development and medical service. Integration of the traditional medical ethics with modern principles and values.

Ethics Ethics, derived from the Greek ethos, or “behaviour”, is concerned with questions about right versus wrong conduct and what constitutes a good or bad life, as well as the situations in which values conflict (e.g. ethical dilemmas, systematic analysis and resolution of these conflicts).

Health ethics: is the interdisciplinary field of study and practice that seeks specifically to understand the values undergirding making decisions and actions in: 1- health care. 2- health research. 3- health policy. to provide guidance for action when these values conflict.

Ethics and Morality What are they? The terms ethics and morality are often used interchangeably - indeed, they usually can mean the same thing, and in casual conversation there isn't a problem with switching between one and the other. However, there is a distinction between them in philosophy!

Ethics and Morality What are they? Ethics and morals both relate to “right” and “wrong” conduct. However, ethics refer to the series of rules provided to an individual by an external source. e.g. their profession. On the other hand, morals refer to an individual’s own principles regarding right and wrong.

The definition of health care institutions and health professions Health care institutions: According of their roles as health care providers, employers, and community health resources, have special responsibilities for ethical conduct and ethical practices that go beyond meeting minimum legal and regulatory standards. The term health care institution represents the mission, programs, and services as defined and implemented by the institution's leadership, including the governing board, executive management, and medical staff leadership.

Types of Health Care institutions Classification of health care institutions : Institutions providing health care can be classified in one of three ways: Classifications by length of stay Classification by type of services: Classification by type of ownership: ● Short stay ● Traditional acute care ● Long –term care ● General vs. specialty ● Community vs. tertiary ● Sub-acute(transitional) care ● In-home care ● Ambulatory care ● Governmental ● Non-Governmental * For-profit * Non-for-profit

Health professionals are conceived as “bureaucrats of health” who are (and, according to H.T. Engelhardt, are properly) entrepreneurs and who see themselves as providing their clients (now seen merely as consumers) with all legally available services regardless of the health professional’s own personal moral views. Health care professionals will do the best possible job for the lowest possible fee to attract more “customers:” it is, once again, an ethic of “outward performance” rather than one of “inner intention.”

Health ethics has a broad focus, faced by health professionals, health policy‑makers and health researchers, as well as by patients, families, and communities, including clinical care, health services and systems, public health, epidemiology, information technology and the use of animals in research. For example, if authorities have a limited supply of vaccine, an ethical analysis of the situation is likely to take into account clinical concerns about vaccine side effects, epidemiological concerns about immunity and population risk, and logistic concerns about maintaining an effective and efficient delivery system

Health ethics is increasingly on the curriculum in health professional and bioscience training, as well as programmes in health administration, health economics, public health, law, biotechnology (e.g. genomics) and environmental health. Though it is a comparatively young field, there is an extensive and growing international literature in the area, and many research efforts are devoted to understanding it.

Professional Ethics Professional ethics are standards of conduct that apply to people who have a professional occupation or role. A person who enters a profession acquires ethical obligations because society trusts them to provide valuable goods and services that cannot be provided unless their conduct conforms to certain standards. Professionals who fail to live up to their ethical obligations betray this trust. Professional ethics studied by ethicists include medical ethics.

Medical care ethics Individual emphasis. Focuses on patient autonomy and best interest. Patient-focused values. Promoting cure and treatment of existing health conditions. Justice and duties to others, including public good, are never far away. Medical care ethics Medical care ethics has an individual emphasis and focuses on patient autonomy and a patient’s best interest. This framework is dominated by patient-focused values and moral issues in clinical practice. The framework tends to focus on the importance of promoting the cure and treatment of existing health conditions. L.O. XX Title

Public health ethics Measures designed to protect and enhance health of public and prevent ill-health Emphasizes greater good of a population or community and pursuit of collective action May be tension between duty to place rights and needs of individuals above those of society Since public is comprised of individuals, public health initiatives can result in benefits for individuals too Public health ethics Public health ethics and medical care ethics share commonalities because both relate to health. However, public health ethics encompasses measures designed to protect and enhance the health of the public and prevent ill-health (for example, through the management of large-scale programs and policies), which are different from diagnosis and treatment of disease (Thomas, 2004). The public health ethics framework emphasizes the greater good of a population or a community and the pursuit of collective action. In other words, public health activities must be directed at improving the health of entire populations. As identified by Benatar (2006), such goal may end up being in conflict with the desire to place the rights and needs of individuals above those of society. However, since the public is comprised of individuals, this can result in health benefits for individuals (Williams, 2009). Hint for facilitator: Additional resources (audio/slide presentations, readings, related websites, exercises) relating to public health ethics can be found at http://oce.sph.unc.edu/phethics/modules.htm L.O. XX Title

Research ethics Goal is producing evidence to advance greater good, including for individuals not yet affected by a condition/issue “Points to the primary value of the human person and focuses largely on constraining the use of individuals…as means for the pursuit of collective scientific or technological ends” (Kenny and Giacomini 2005) Research ethics   The goals of research are oriented toward producing evidence to advance the greater good, including of individuals not yet affected by a condition or issue. At the same time, “traditional research ethics points to the primary value of the human person, and focuses largely on constraining the use of individuals (whether their bodies, parts, stories, or information) as means for the pursuit of collective scientific or technological ends” (Kenny and Giacomini, 2005, p.252) L.O. XX Title

Ethics vs Laws 1. Ethics are rules of conduct. Laws are rules developed by governments in order to provide balance in society and protection to its citizens. 2. Ethics comes from people’s awareness of what is right and wrong. 3. Laws are enforced by governments to its people.

Ethics vs Laws 3. Ethics are moral codes which every person must conform to. Laws are codifications of ethics meant to regulate between society members. 4. Ethics does not carry any punishment to anyone who violates it. The law will punish anyone who happens to violate it. 5. Ethics comes from within a person’s moral values. Laws are made with ethics as a guiding principle.