W3 Flashcards
Dignity -
- state of being worthy of honour & respect
- in medical ethics: treating patients as valuable individuals, regardless of their condition & background
Dignity in healthcare:
- treating patients as individuals, not just cases
- respecting patients’ choices even when we disagree
- providing care that promotes - not undermines - their sense of self-worth
- Dignity is part of overall human dignity => How we treat patients = how we value ppl in general
- Treat ppl as individuals => Every patient deserves personalized respect & care
- Dignity is more than just physical care => emotional & psychological well-being matter too
- Respect grows in fair relationship => Patient should feel valued, not powerless
When is human dignity at risk?
- illness or injury
- decline / toward death
- childhood
- old age
- prison / detention
- living w/ disabilities
- lacking capacity
Vulnerability makes it easier for rights to be ignored or violated
Rights & entitlements -
define what we can do and what others can’t do to us
2 types of rights:
- Active rights - the freedom to do smth (patient has the right to make medical decisions or refuse treatment)
- Passive rights - the freedom from smth (patient has the right to not be treated w/out consent)
How do human rights exist?
- through national & international law = legal rights
- through moral & cultural traditions = moral rights
- through court decisions that enforce them = legal rights in action
UDHR & Healthcare rights
- Right to Life = Medical care can’t be denied (Article 3)
- Right to Freedom from Inhumane Treatment = No forced medical procedures & medical experiment w/out consent (Article 5)
- Right to Health & Well-being = Access to medical care (Article 25)
Principles of medical ethics:
- provide medical practitioners with guidelines to make decisions when they inevitably face complicated situations involving patients
- Beneficence
- Nonmaleficence
- Autonomy
- Justice
Authors of the 4 principles in medical ethics:
Tom Beauchamp and James Childress, 1979
Principle: Autonomy
Autonomy - self-rule, self-determination, ability to think, to decide and to act based on such thought and decision, freely and independently
- a medical practitioner cannot impose treatment on an individual for whatever reason
- respect for autonomy requires health professionals to help patients come to their own decisions and to respect and follow those decisions
Patient autonomy is not absolute! limitations:
-capacity
-necessity
-risk to others
Principle: Beneficence
Beneficence - moral importance of doing good to others i.e. to patients
- people take actions to benefit and promote the welfare of other people (performing deeds of “mercy, kindness, friendship, charity and the like”)
Rules of Beneficence (5)
- Protect and defend the rights of others
- Prevent harm from occurring to others
- Remove conditions that will cause harm to others
- Help persons with disabilities
- Rescue persons in danger
Process of ranking the available treatment options in clinical assessment: Factors to consider? (4)
- Will this treatment option resolve this patient’s medical problem?
- Is it proportionate to the scale of the medical problem?
- Is the treatment option compatible with this patient’s individual circumstances?
- Is the specific option and its outcomes in line with the patient’s treatment expectations?
Principle: Non-maleficence
- health professionals should avoid harm on
patients - the practical application of nonmaleficence is for the physician to weigh the benefits against the burdens of all interventions and treatments
Principle: Justice
- Health professionals have to make decisions about distribution of time, money, clinical resources
The principle of justice emphasizes two points:
- Patients in similar situations should have access to the same healthcare
- In determining what level of care should be available for one set of patients, we must take into account the effect of such use of resources on other patients
Distributive justice -
fair distribution of resources
Benefits and burdens should be distributed fairly among members of a society and with respect for people’s needs/rights (social justice/rights based justice)
Theory of Justice, John Rawls (1971)
Fairness and equality should be evaluated from a position free of biases
Rawls advocated two principles:
1) everyone should be given equal liberty regardless of their adversities
2) differences among people should be recognized by making sure the least advantaged people are given opportunities for improvement.
=> Equal access to healthcare services
