scholarly journals 25.G. Round table: Public health codes of ethical professional conduct for effective practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  

Abstract One of the major outputs of the WHO Regional Office for Europe “Coalition of Partners” initiative has been the development of the “Road map for professionalization of the public health workforce in Europe.” Public health ethics was considered as one of the key pillars for practice for the workforce. The report highlighted the case and urgent need for development of Public Health Codes of ethics and professional conduct (CoC) as an essential part of workforce development strategies. The development of CoCs is considered essential to pursue the mission and moral mandate of public health and to clarify the purpose of professional activities in public health. Scotland has been working as an initial pilot site in Europe to consider developing a CoC for its workforce as part of its public health reform program. The purpose of this roundtable workshop is to share and reflect on the learning from the process, experience and findings from development of the Scottish CoC as the first pilot site in Europe and implications for development of such codes in other public health systems. The workshop will also share the evidence, rationale and background to CoC with research and learning from around the world on the issue. The Roundtable will include brief presentations by an experienced expert panel of senior public health leaders, ethicists and academics who have been working on development of public health Codes of professional conduct. This will be followed by reflection, consultation and debate with participants around the case, nature and options for development of codes of practice and distinguishing features for public health practice. There are issues to whether there is need for country specific, regional or global codes of ethics taking account core public health values and implications for practice. One of the key issues identified is fundamental importance of ensuring such work is linked to a strategy and activities to build competency and capacity around public health ethics and law and to ensure resources, systems and robust education and training activities are put in place for a sustainable development of the issue. Key messages The Development of CoCs is important in order to support the workforce, pursue the mission and moral mandate of public health and clarify the purpose of professional activities. There is need to develop activities and strategy for building competency and capacity in public health ethics alongside development of Code of ethics and professional conduct.

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (S2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Pierre Unger ◽  
Ingrid Morales ◽  
Pierre De Paepe ◽  
Michel Roland

Abstract Background Since some form of dual clinical/public health practice is desirable, this paper explains why their ethics should be combined to influence medical practice and explores a way to achieve that. Main text In our attempt to merge clinical and public health ethics, we empirically compared the individual and collective health consequences of two illustrative lists of medical and public health ethical tenets and discussed their reciprocal relevance to praxis. The studied codes share four principles, namely, 1. respect for individual/collective rights and the patient’s autonomy; 2. cultural respect and treatment that upholds the patient’s dignity; 3. honestly informed consent; and 4. confidentiality of information. However, they also shed light on the strengths and deficiencies of each other’s tenets. Designing a combined clinical and public health code requires fleshing out three similar principles, namely, beneficence, medical and public health engagement in favour of health equality, and community and individual participation; and adopting three stand-alone principles, namely, professional excellence, non-maleficence, and scientific excellence. Finally, we suggest that eco-biopsychosocial and patient-centred care delivery and dual clinical/public health practice should become a doctor’s moral obligation. We propose to call ethics based on non-maleficence, beneficence, autonomy, and justice – the values upon which, according to Pellegrino and Thomasma, the others are grounded and that physicians and ethicists use to resolve ethical dilemmas – “neo-Hippocratic”. The neo- prefix is justified by the adjunct of a distributive dimension (justice) to traditional Hippocratic ethics. Conclusion Ethical codes ought to be constantly updated. The above values do not escape the rule. We have formulated them to feed discussions in health services and medical associations. Not only are these values fragmentary and in progress, but they have no universal ambition: they are applicable to the dilemmas of modern Western medicine only, not Ayurvedic or Shamanic medicine, because each professional culture has its own philosophical rationale. Efforts to combine clinical and public health ethics whilst resolving medical dilemmas can reasonably be expected to call upon the physician’s professional identity because they are intellectual challenges to be associated with case management.


2021 ◽  
pp. 261-272
Author(s):  
Nancy Kass ◽  
Amy Paul ◽  
Andrew Siegel

Public health ethics considers moral dimensions of public health practice and research. While medical ethics dates back hundreds of years, and bioethics writings emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, ‘public health ethics’, articulated as such, did not appear significantly in the literature for several more decades. There has been great interest recently in defining public health ethics, examining how it resembles or differs from medical ethics or bioethics, outlining frameworks and codes, and providing conceptual and practical guidance on how ethics can inform public health practice and research. This chapter describes the emergence of public health ethics; work in bioethics with relevance for public health; the relevance of social justice theory in addressing public health problems; and discusses literature on ethics and public health research, including whether public health research ethics might differ from ethical guidance for other human research. The chapter concludes with an overview of ethics issues related to genetic research and emerging technologies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
F Tahzib

Abstract Background Our norms and values are key to decision making, policy and practice. Some commentators have highlighted need for greater courage and purpose in public health leaders and systems. There is need for greater appreciation of moral mandate of public health and implications for public health system leadership and capacity building activities and practice Objectives Demonstrate the case for value-driven workforce, systems and leadership Share key findings and learning from research by the Faculty of public health around the public health values, and activities to build capacity and competency around the issue. Body of the session Surveys of the public health workforce and schools of public health have consistently highlighted need for education and training in public health ethics and law for some time and their key role for effective public health policy and practice. In this presentation there will be demonstration of the key findings of the surveys and their consequences, including moral distress for the workforce and potential failings of public health systems Some key activities and initiatives in building competency and capacity in public health ethics and law will be described. This will include activities to develop organisational values and professional values and the important distinctions between them, and development of public health code of ethics and professional conduct as part of efforts for professionalisation of the public health workforce. Conclusions Value-driven workforce, systems and leadership are key in meeting complex public health challenges. Building competency and capacity of the workforce and public health institutions are important part of the agenda.


Author(s):  
Anna C. Mastroianni ◽  
Jeffrey P. Kahn ◽  
Nancy E. Kass

Public health is fundamentally concerned with promoting the health of populations through the prevention of disease and injury. It is, at its core, a moral endeavor, because the end it seeks is the advancement of human well-being. Vexing ethics issues are inherent in all aspects of public health practice and policy. This chapter provides a concise overview of the topics and issues examined in the Oxford Handbook of Public Health Ethics.


2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 657-667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy M. Baum ◽  
Sarah E. Gollust ◽  
Susan D. Goold ◽  
Peter D. Jacobson

In recent years, scholars have begun to lay the groundwork to justify a distinct application of ethics to the field of public health. They have highlighted important features that differentiate public health ethics from bioethics, especially public health’s emphasis on population health rather than issues of individual health. Articulations of public health ethics also tend to emphasize the role of social justice compared to the predominance of autonomy in the bioethical literature. Now that the field of public health ethics is developing a unique focus and a language of its own, including a code of ethics disseminated by the American Public Health Association, the future of public health ethics may well be global health ethics, focusing on issues of global justice. As public health ethics evolves from its nascent stage of reflection to a place of action and application in the national and global arenas, two interrelated developments will need to occur: (1) public health professionals, including practitioners, policymakers, and scholars, will need a richer understanding of the ethical challenges practitioners face on a daily basis and (2) scholars will need to develop useful tools (i.e., frameworks) that practitioners may employ for identifying and tackling these ethical challenges.


Author(s):  
A M Viens ◽  
Caroline Vass ◽  
Catherine R McGowan ◽  
Farhang Tahzib

Abstract Background Public health ethics and law (PHEL) is a core professional competency for the public health workforce. However, few data are available describing the extent to which UK public health workforce members experience ethical and legal issues or have sufficient educational and/or training background to adequately deal with such issues. Methods An anonymous online survey was developed for dissemination via member mailing lists of the: Faculty of Public Health, Royal Society of Public Health, and UK Public Health Register. Public Health England also included a link to the survey in their newsletter. The survey included questions about education, training, and experience in relation to PHEL. The survey was deployed from October 2017 to January 2018. Results The survey was completed by a diverse sample of five hundred and sixty-two individuals. The majority of respondents reported: (i) regularly encountering ethical issues, (ii) resolving ethical issues through personal reflection, (iii) having little or no education and training in PHEL, and (iv) questioning whether they have dealt with ethical issues encountered in practice in the best way. Conclusions The results suggest that there is a need to develop and support wider PHEL capacity within the UK public health workforce through the provision of PHEL education, training, guidance, and mentoring.


1970 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 15-21
Author(s):  
Abu Sadat Mohammad Nurunnabi ◽  
Mahmood Uz Jahan ◽  
Shaorin Tanira

Public health is the societal approach to protecting and promoting health. Public health ethics can be defined as the identification, analysis, and resolution of ethical problems arising in public health practice and research. The emerging interest in ethical issues in public health research and practice reflects both the important societal role of public health and the growing public interest in the scientific integrity of health information and the equitable distribution of health care resources. This article provides an overview of ethical issues in public health research for young researchers and readers who do not necessarily have an in-depth knowledge of public health ethics. A framework of ethics analysis geared specifically for public health is needed to provide practical guidance for public health professionals and researchers in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Medical Research Council is playing a role in setting a standard in the field of biomedical research including public health concerning its strategy and ethical issues and by helping different health institutes to build up a research environment. Though public policy is based on many factors in addition to public health goals and ethical reasoning, it should not lead to the politically preferable option for a given time. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bioethics.v1i3.9630 Bangladesh Journal of Bioethics 2010; 1(3): 15-21


2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy M. Carter ◽  
Ian Kerridge ◽  
Peter Sainsbury ◽  
Julie K. Letts

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  

Abstract To conduct good public health practice and research, ethical standards and reflection are essential. Therefore, ethics education rightly plays an increasing role in the training of the public health workforce. The organizers of this workshop all have the theme of ethics education for the public health profession as a priority in their activities. In this workshop, we present recent research findings, lessons learned and challenges in a European and global perspective. The aim of this workshop is to present and discuss these to help public health organizations and institutions of higher education to improving their public health ethics education. The added value of this workshop is to engage - personally - during the conference in Rome with senior public health professionals and researchers and to continue the dialogue on this important issue - a key mission of the EUPHA Ethics in Public Health section. Four presentations in different formats are planned, a mixture of “Research Abstract” and “Training and Education Abstracts” and presentations respectively are foreseen. The first presentation gives an assessment of how ethics is (or is not) taught in schools of public health and to the public health workforce in Europe. It shows, for the first time, the results of two surveys, among EUPHA and ASPHER members on ethics education. The second presentation gives examples of a university in Barcelona (Spain) on innovative teaching methods at master level and thus gives impulses on how education can be integrated and improved in public health education. The third presentation reflects on the competencies in public health ethics that are aimed at with innovative and traditional teaching methods. Finally, a presentation from Nigeria contrasts educational experiences of low- and middle-income countries with high income countries and shows challenges and collaborative solutions to improved ethics education in the health field. This perspective is especially suitable to be integrated in this workshop given the global character of this year's “World Conference on Public Health”. Mutual learning and support within Europe and globally is key to develop and promote the field of public health ethics education further. A fifth timeslot for a presentation would be possible in this workshop but is not filled on purpose to have sufficient time for a structured debate on challenges and opportunities with the audience and speakers. Key messages Public Health Ethics education remains key for professional education; more awareness of ethical competences has to be raised. The diversity of experienced ethics trainings offers a challenging but also promising context to develop and integrate better ethics education.


Author(s):  
David B. Resnik

This chapter provides an overview of the ethics of environmental health, and it introduces five chapters in the related section of The Oxford Handbook of Public Health Ethics. A wide range of ethical issues arises in managing the relationship between human health and the environment, including regulation of toxic substances, air and water pollution, waste management, agriculture, the built environment, occupational health, energy production and use, environmental justice, population control, and climate change. The values at stake in environmental health ethics include those usually mentioned in ethical debates in biomedicine and public health, such as autonomy, social utility, and justice, as well as values that address environmental concerns, such as animal welfare, stewardship of biological resources, and sustainability. Environmental health ethics, therefore, stands at the crossroads of several disciplines, including public health ethics, environmental ethics, biomedical ethics, and business ethics.


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