Bioethics Casebook 2.0: Using Web-Based Design and Tools to Promote Ethical Reflection and Practice in Health Care

"Teach for ethics in palliative care": a mixed-method evaluation of a medical ethics training programme

BACKGROUND

Training in medical ethics aims to educate health care professionals in dealing with daily care ethical issues. To guarantee quality of life and spiritual and emotional support, palliative care professionals have to develop ethical and relational skills. We propose the implementation and evaluation of a specialized training programme in medical ethics dedicated to a hospital-based Palliative Care Unit.

METHODS

This study is a mixed-method before-after evaluation with data triangulation.

RESULTS

The results highlight that participants developed their ethical knowledge, and a deeper ethical awareness. They also felt more confident and motivated to widely apply ethical reflections and reasonings in their daily practice.

CONCLUSION

The participants appreciated the innovative structure of the training, especially regarding the integration of the theoretical-interactive and practical parts. However, they recommended increasing the number of concrete occasions for ethical supervision and practical application of what they learned during the programme. The training programme also has some potential practical implications: the development of advanced ethical skills within a hospital-based PC team may improve the quality of life of the patients and their families. In addition, health care professionals with advanced ethical competencies are able to educate patients and their families towards more active participation in the decision-making process.

Education and debate: a manifesto for ethics and values at annual healthcare conferences

In this paper I discuss the ways in which the conference stream ethics and values manifested at the 2015 RCGP Annual Conference in Glasgow, and the ways in which it is planned for the 2016 RCGP Annual Conference in Harrogate. The 2015 RCGP had plenaries, oral presentations, breakout symposia, a debate, and a poster stream. I briefly discuss each in turn before offering a manifesto (a public statement of aims and proposed policy) for ethics and values at healthcare conferences. It is my hope that others will critique this, flesh it out further and even consider how ethics and values relate to conferences for healthcare workers of various specialities. A conference provides opportunities for ethics and values discussion that are potentially distinctive from any other kind of forum. Because conferences offer the potential for knowledge and attitudes to be revisited and revised, issues can be ‘unsettled’ in a way that permits different perspectives to be more fully discussed.