While ethics has been addressed in the health care literature, relatively little attention has been paid to the subject in the field of social care. This book redresses the balance by examining theory, research, policy and practice in both fields.
The analysis is set within the context of contemporary challenges facing health and social care, not only in Britain but internationally. Contributors from the UK, US and Australia consider ethical issues in health and social care research and governance; interprofessional and user perspectives; ethics in relation to human rights, the law, finance, management and provision; key issues of relevance to vulnerable groups such as children and young people, those with complex disabilities, older people and those with mental health problems and lifecourse issues - ethical perspectives on a range of challenging areas from new technologies of reproduction to euthanasia.
This book is intended for academics, students and researchers in health and social care who need an up-to-date analysis of contemporary issues and debates. It will also be useful to practitioners in the public, private and voluntary sectors, including social workers, community workers, those working in the fields of disability and mental health and with older people.
143 TEN Multidisciplinary team practice in law and ethics: an Australian perspective Robert Irvine and John McPhee Summary The concept of collaborative multidisciplinary teamwork is conceived as an important catalyst and site for social and cultural transformation in the provision of health and welfare services. In increasingly diversified and pluralist health care systems, redrawing the parameters of professional practice promised opportunities for new forms of thought and action that would achieve optimal treatment outcomes and improve the experience of care
Section 3 Ethics: From the start of life to the end
Section 1 Ethics: Research and provision in health and social care
Section 2 Law, management and ethics in health and social care
185 THIRTEEN Ethics and charging for care Bridget Penhale Summary In recent years, following the implementation of the community care reforms of the 1990s, there has been an increased emphasis on charging for social care. This chapter aims to provide a brief overview concerning charging for the care of vulnerable adults, encompassing deliberation of some of the historical antecedents, together with an exploration of systems of rationing. This is followed by an examination of current practice in this area, together with issues and dilemmas raised by such practice
97 SEVEN Ethics and interprofessional care Audrey Leathard Summary Ethics and interprofessional care are briefly defined to clarify a fourfold pathway for analysis. Beneficence: for whose good and who benefits from working together for health and social care? Confidentiality: how far can trust and private information be upheld for service users, across the differing administrative and professional boundaries? Accountability: to what extent can interprofessional work be held accountable to audit and regulation, to the rules of professional bodies, to management
255 EIGHTEEN Ethics and older people Anthea Tinker Summary There are two main areas where ethical issues arise for older people in health and social care. The first relates to services and the second to research. This chapter will start with general issues, such as general and demographic factors, in order to examine the ethical case for and against treating older people differently from other age groups. Are there groups, such as those with dementia, who should receive different attention? On services, ethical issues such as those relating to age discrimination
53 FOUR Ethics: research governance for health and social care Elaine Pierce Summary Research and Development (R&D) in health and social care is dependent on funding from government or charitable sources, public confidence and concrete support. Therefore it is essential that R&D be conducted according to regulations that are both stringent and transparent. In the UK, R&D, carried out by organisations and individuals, is subject to the Research governance framework for health and social care (DH, 2005). This framework, which is overseen by the relevant government
19 TWO Ethics and contemporary challenges in health and social care Louise Terry Summary This chapter briefly explains ethical theories, principles and issues of relevance in health and social care including some recent trends in contemporary policy and practice with ethical implications. The first section, ‘What is “ethics”?’, separates ethics from morality. The question ‘What is “ethics”?’ leads to an examination of distinctions between normative and non-normative ethics, virtue ethics, ethics and law. In ‘Applied and professional ethics’, examples of ethical
