Text Messaging and Private Practice: Ethical Challenges and Guidelines for Developing Personal Best Practices

2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Sude

The impact of technology on mental health practice is currently a concern in the counseling literature, and several articles have discussed using different types of technology in practice. In particular, many private practitioners use a cell phone for business. However, no article has discussed ethical concerns and best practices for the use of short message service (SMS), better known as text messaging (TM). Ethical issues that arise with TM relate to confidentiality, documentation, counselor competence, appropriateness of use, and misinterpretation. There are also such boundary issues to consider as multiple relationships, counselor availability, and billing. This article addresses ethical concerns for mental health counselors who use TM in private practice. It reviews the literature and discusses benefits, ethical concerns, and guidelines for office policies and personal best practices.

Author(s):  
Ghadah Althawwad

The influence of social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter plays an increasingly influential role in the daily lives of people. Despite the rise of interest in this topic, the research discussing the ethical concerns of using social media for recruitment purposes remains in exploratory stages. This chapter provides a systematic review of recent research that was published from 2012 to 2018 and focused on ethical issues related to the use of social media for recruitment purposes. The techno-ethical lens, which studies the impact of technology on ethics, was used to explore the social and ethical aspects of how recruiters use social media for recruitment purposes.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S36-S36
Author(s):  
M. Kastrup

Europe has undergone considerable economic changes that have an impact on mental health of its citizens; have consequences for the organization of mental health services; and raise ethical issues, such as the distribution of wealth, and equity in access to care. Furthermore, Europe is current undergoing serious economic problems that will produce adverse effects on the mental health of its citizens, among them increase in substance abuse related disorders as well as an increase in suicide.The consequences that economic changes have on mental health relate to the conditions of the particular country, as countries with better health security nets would be less likely to experience adverse effects. Different policy measures may reduce the impact on mental health not only within the health sector, but other sectors of society have to be engaged in the process.The symposium will consider these problems from different selected perspectives.An overview of the impact of economic policies on health services will be followed by a presentation of the important role of international organizations like EPA in outlining the problem and finally a presentation of the initiative Choosing Wisely that focuses on communication between health professionals and patients with recommendations of decisions about the most appropriate care based on the patient's individual situation.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.


Author(s):  
AJung Moon ◽  
Shalaleh Rismani ◽  
H. F. Machiel Van der Loos

Abstract Purpose of Review To summarize the set of roboethics issues that uniquely arise due to the corporeality and physical interaction modalities afforded by robots, irrespective of the degree of artificial intelligence present in the system. Recent Findings One of the recent trends in the discussion of ethics of emerging technologies has been the treatment of roboethics issues as those of “embodied AI,” a subset of AI ethics. In contrast to AI, however, robots leverage human’s natural tendency to be influenced by our physical environment. Recent work in human-robot interaction highlights the impact a robot’s presence, capacity to touch, and move in our physical environment has on people, and helping to articulate the ethical issues particular to the design of interactive robotic systems. Summary The corporeality of interactive robots poses unique sets of ethical challenges. These issues should be considered in the design irrespective of and in addition to the ethics of artificial intelligence implemented in them.


2022 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 263
Author(s):  
Melati Nungsari ◽  
Chuah Hui Yin ◽  
Nicole Fong ◽  
Veena Pillai

Background: Globally, vulnerable populations have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent responses, such as lockdown measures and mass vaccinations. Numerous ethical challenges have arisen at different levels, be it at the policy-making level or on the ground. For example, policymakers have to contain a highly contagious disease with high morbidity using scarce resources, while minimizing the medium- to long-term social and economic impacts induced by containment measures. This study explores the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations in Malaysia by using an intersectional framework that accounts for overlapping forms of marginalization.   Methods: This study utilizes in-depth qualitative data obtained from 34 individuals and organizations to understand the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on vulnerable populations in Malaysia. We utilize four principles of ethics to guide our coding and interpretation of the data – namely beneficence, non-maleficence, justice and autonomy. We utilize a frequency analysis to roughly understand the types of ethical issues that emerged. Using hermeneutic content analysis (HCA), we then explore how the principles interact with each other. Results: Through the frequently analysis, we found that although beneficence was very prevalent in our dataset, so was a significant amount of harm – as perpetuated through injustice, the removal or lack of autonomy and maleficence. We also unearthed a worrying landscape of harm and deep systemic issues associated with a lack of support for vulnerable households – further exacerbated during the pandemic. Conclusions: Policy recommendations for aid organizations and society to mitigate these ethical problems are presented, such as long overdue institutional reforms and stronger ethical practices rooted in human rights principles, which government agencies and aid providers can then use in the provision of aid to vulnerable populations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 780-799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Radosław Stupak ◽  
Krzysztof Dyga

The article reconstructs postpsychiatry’s core propositions and briefly describes its theoretical background and assumptions. It also presents chosen aspects of postmodern psychotherapy, which seem to be in many ways similar to postpsychiatry’s ideas. Although they are drawn from different inspiration, postpsychiatry and postmodern psychotherapy seem to come to similar conclusions, especially regarding the role of the patient in the therapeutic process, the meaning of psychiatric diagnosis, and the importance of the institutional, cultural, and social contexts in mental health practice and research. The paper also aims to place postpsychiatry and postmodern psychotherapy in a Polish context, focusing on the ethical challenges faced by psychiatry and showing that some of postpsychiatry’s ideas and solutions to contemporary problems were already present in the Polish psychiatric literature of the 20th century. It also contains a brief description of the Polish social and historical context of psychiatry, as well as key aspects of the Polish legal system that relate to mental health and seem to reflect the nature of biomedical explanations of mental distress. It concludes that the model of psychiatric care postulated by “postmodern” approaches seems more ethical and scientifically and philosophically grounded and promises better treatment results than the “traditional” biomedical model.


Author(s):  
Penelope Debs Keough ◽  
Jacqueline Simeon

The impact on elementary education, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, has far reaching effects and can only be ameliorated by educators following best practices in distance learning. The purpose of this chapter is to bring to teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, students, and parents innovative, effective ways to bring quality lessons at appropriate developmental levels to all students regardless of cultural backgrounds (i.e., second language learners, students qualified for special education, or those pupils hampered by trauma, homelessness, and/or mental health issues). This chapter will further describe through illustrations and step-by-step guides creating meaningful, interactive, and purposeful lessons to meet student needs based on assessment.


Author(s):  
Gordon I. Herz

This chapter describes “managed care” insurance systems and practices that were created to manage healthcare costs. Effects on private mental health practice are identified, such as decreases in reimbursement, documentation requirements, treatment reviews, and other intrusions into clinician–client privacy and decision making. Potential advantages of participation are also identified. Key factors that private practitioners should take into account when deciding whether to participate with managed care organizations include careful contract reviews, likely credentialing requirements, and the impact of reimbursement on a practice. Potential solutions to common challenges are provided, such as limits on balance billing and waiver of co-payments. Ethical concerns specific to providing mental health treatment in the managed care context are discussed, such as limits on privacy and confidentiality. Potential implications of the ongoing seismic changes in the healthcare system for the future of managed care and private practitioners are explored.


2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 391-404
Author(s):  
Neerosh Mudaly

There is considerable research on the impact of maternal mental health issues on infants’ development. These studies emphasise the importance of early interventions to prevent the development of psychopathology later in life. In many studies infants who are involved in video-recorded studies show an observable distressed reaction. Whilst these studies have made major contributions to the field of child development, a key question that arises is: is it ethically acceptable in research with pre-verbal children for them to experience emotional distress during the research process? This article explores the ethical issues of harm and benefit from the perspective of the child. It aims further to refine discussion and understanding of children’s vulnerability and examines pre-verbal children’s ethical rights in video-recorded observation studies.


2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 59-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie J. Smith

Scholarly studies of refugees and other vulnerable populations carry special ethical concerns. In this invited case study of Afghan refugees in Fremont, California, I provide illustrations and recommendations of ethical research methods with refugees. I also compare and contrast some ethical issues in the U.S. with issues in Thailand. The qualitative, ethnographic methods I report here demonstrate how to conduct culturally sensitive investigations by ethically approaching gatekeepers and other community members to preserve autonomy, ensure confidentiality, build trust, and improve the accuracy of interpretations and results. Six groups at risk for being marginalized in multiple ways within refugee populations are described. Ten best practices are recommended for ethically acquiring an in-depth understanding of the refugees, their community, and appropriate research methods.


2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecile Brennan

Since mental health counselors in private practice often work in relative isolation, it is especially important that they attend to ethical issues. This article reviews four dimensions of ethical knowledge: the foundation of ethical actions, counselors as agents of ethical action, the need to establish a decision-making process, and the importance of sustaining ethical practice by keeping current with clinical developments and attending to their own well-being.


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