Developing Tools for Addressing Ethical Issues

Abstract

Ethics is thought by many to be an interesting intellectual exercise that offers little solution for addressing complex issues. Many believe ethics can be reduced to mere opinion rather than seeing it as an important tool to clarify issues and reduce, if not preclude, conflict. This article will examine misconceptions about ethics and show how a combination of ethical theory and proven practical strategies for addressing ethical issues can provide direction and assistance in problem clarification and problem solving. Key concepts from the field of both ethics and law, including rights, wishes, self determination, capacity and related issues, will be introduced, followed by discussions of consent and knowledge, as well as knowledge and ethics, providing the reader with both historical and methodological frameworks for problem solving. Among the methodological techniques discussed will be defining the problem, framing the issue, and justifying the position you take. This will be followed by a step-by-step model for decision making created by the author dealing with an ethical issue in home health. Also, novel method of addressing community-wide ethical issues will be introduced via the concept of the community-based ethics committee as well as through examining the notion of continuity of consent.