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Public Health Ethics
by Katie Dilworth , Member, OPHA
Public health staff increasingly face unique challenges in their focus on the health of the population in addition to individuals. Occasionally they experience conflicting loyalties and obligations; sometimes it can be difficult to articulate the "right thing to do" as distinct from the "evidence-based thing", etc.
Traditional biomedical ethics was developed around issues of individual patients — it often doesn't really work well for the scope and types of issues we face in our work with communities, and individuals within communities. The ability to identify, articulate, and analyze ethical issues arising in public health, and to formulate critical and well-reasoned ethical arguments is key to public health practice. Whether you deal with individuals, groups, or policy-level work, understanding the ethical dimensions and implications of public health work is a fundamental aspect of making and keeping communities healthy.
The inclusion of ethical components in pubic health work is essential as illustrated by the identification of ethics in the PHAC Core Competencies Release 1.0 (refer to 7.3 Utilize public health ethics to manage self, others, information and resources).
Public health ethics is a developing field — and not yet well field-tested. An OPHA workgroup could link policy makers, academics and public health practitioners to promote dialogue and understanding of ethics, expand knowledge, establish research priorities, identify weaknesses in legislative frameworks, and assist in developing a pubic health framework for ethics to guide public health work.
If you are interested in forming or belonging to such a Workgroup, contact Connie Uetrecht.
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