Personal
health deals with the maintenance or care of an individual’s total state of health.
In the delivery of personal health, ethics is important for several reasons,
but primarily because failing to act ethically can harm someone. Also, the
unique vulnerability associated with being a patient leads people to trust that
personal health care practitioners will act ethically, by putting their best
interests first. This includes taking their wishes into account, and not doing
anything without their express permission (for example, by obtaining informed
consent). Personal health care ethics concerns both professionals’ duties and
users’ rights. Ethics in personal health care tends to concentrate on the
following four key principles.
health deals with the maintenance or care of an individual’s total state of health.
In the delivery of personal health, ethics is important for several reasons,
but primarily because failing to act ethically can harm someone. Also, the
unique vulnerability associated with being a patient leads people to trust that
personal health care practitioners will act ethically, by putting their best
interests first. This includes taking their wishes into account, and not doing
anything without their express permission (for example, by obtaining informed
consent). Personal health care ethics concerns both professionals’ duties and
users’ rights. Ethics in personal health care tends to concentrate on the
following four key principles.
1.
The principle of respect for autonomy –
giving competent adults the information they need to make their own decisions,
based on their own values and their personal assessment of risk factors, free
from coercion or undue influence.
The principle of respect for autonomy –
giving competent adults the information they need to make their own decisions,
based on their own values and their personal assessment of risk factors, free
from coercion or undue influence.
2.
The principle of beneficence –
benefiting or acting in the patient’s best interests.
The principle of beneficence –
benefiting or acting in the patient’s best interests.
3.
The principle of avoiding misconduct –
not deliberately causing the patient harm, or making sure that the benefits
outweigh the harm if harm is unavoidable.
The principle of avoiding misconduct –
not deliberately causing the patient harm, or making sure that the benefits
outweigh the harm if harm is unavoidable.
4.
The principle of respect for justice –
treating all patients equally and providing mechanisms for when care goes
wrong.
The principle of respect for justice –
treating all patients equally and providing mechanisms for when care goes
wrong.
While
these four principles highlight the range of duties that personal health
professionals owe their patients, they do not provide an exact outline for how
a practitioner ought to act in every given situation. However, they do provide
a good starting point for making decisions, so that a practitioner faced with
an ethically contentious choice does not make a decision solely on personal
preference (for example, a doctor refusing to agree to a woman’s abortion
because of their personal opposition to it).
these four principles highlight the range of duties that personal health
professionals owe their patients, they do not provide an exact outline for how
a practitioner ought to act in every given situation. However, they do provide
a good starting point for making decisions, so that a practitioner faced with
an ethically contentious choice does not make a decision solely on personal
preference (for example, a doctor refusing to agree to a woman’s abortion
because of their personal opposition to it).
Sometimes
these four ethical principles clash. For example, a doctor might be reluctant
to tell patients they are dying, believing this will cause distress. In the
past, doctors could override patients’ autonomy by withholding that information
from them in what they perceived were the patients’ best interests. These might
include keeping hope alive and encouraging the dying person to take the
prescribed medication. Nowadays, such an action would be regarded as
unacceptably ‘paternalistic’.
these four ethical principles clash. For example, a doctor might be reluctant
to tell patients they are dying, believing this will cause distress. In the
past, doctors could override patients’ autonomy by withholding that information
from them in what they perceived were the patients’ best interests. These might
include keeping hope alive and encouraging the dying person to take the
prescribed medication. Nowadays, such an action would be regarded as
unacceptably ‘paternalistic’.
‘Paternalism’
has a distinct meaning in personal health care ethics. It describes the actions
of a personal health care practitioner who overrides or does not seek the
wishes of a competent person (that is, someone who has sufficient autonomy to
make their own decisions), believing that they are better able to decide what
is in the patient’s best interests. A paternalistic action is always well
intentioned but is ethically unacceptable because it seizes people’s rights to
make their own decisions, based on their own values and beliefs. It is now
considered more preferable for people to make their own choices on the basis of
all the relevant facts than for other people to make decisions for them.
has a distinct meaning in personal health care ethics. It describes the actions
of a personal health care practitioner who overrides or does not seek the
wishes of a competent person (that is, someone who has sufficient autonomy to
make their own decisions), believing that they are better able to decide what
is in the patient’s best interests. A paternalistic action is always well
intentioned but is ethically unacceptable because it seizes people’s rights to
make their own decisions, based on their own values and beliefs. It is now
considered more preferable for people to make their own choices on the basis of
all the relevant facts than for other people to make decisions for them.