Ethics Empowerment for Helping Professionals

1. Ethics Empowerment for Helping Professionals Virginia Chapter AER Conference March 3, 2011Daniel J. Day, LICSW Washington, DC VA Medical Center

2. Ethics Empowerment • Empower persons providing educational and rehabilitation services to the blind and visually impaired to identify, analyze and address ethical issues more confidently

3. Ethics Empowerment • Explore fundamental theoretical approaches to contemporary professional ethics including: duty based (deontology), consequence based (utilitarian), and character based (virtue) ethical frameworks.

4. Ethics Empowerment • Become more aware of professional and organizational ethical cultures and guidelines articulated in Codes of Ethics, Missions Statements, etc. • Utilize the three main ethical frameworks as well as pertinent ethical guidelines to identify, analyze and address challenging ethical issues and dilemmas in our work

5. Ethics Defined • What do we mean by the term “Ethics?”

6. Ethics • Thoughts concerning good, right and praiseworthy actions/deeds/behaviors and their opposites bad, wrong, and blameworthy • Criteria, standards… • Evaluating values!

7. Ethics in the Helping Professions • Duty based ethics considers the actions of helping professional • Consequence based ethic considers the effects resulting from the actions of professional helpers • Virtue based ethics considers the character, (intentions and motivations) of helping professionals

8. Principlism: A Contemporary Model for the Helping Professions • Respect for the person and his/her autonomy • Minimizing harms • Maximizing good • Justice and Fairness • (Tom Beauchamp and James Childress)

9. Ethics • It’s not just in the thinking, it’s in the doing!

10. Let’s Do Ethics • Common Ethical Dilemmas in our Work

11. IntegratedEthics: VHA Model • Designed to promote ethics quality through the organization on all levels. • Individual action • Systems and Process and • Organizational Culture • VHA aims to promote technical, customer service and ethics quality

12. IntegratedEthics: VHA Model • Ethics Consultation • Preventive Ethics • Ethics Leadership

13. IE Consultation: CASES • Clarify the consultation request • Assemble the relevant information • Synthesize the information • Explain the synthesis • Support the consultation process

14. IE Preventive Ethics: ISSUES • Identify an issue • Study the issue • Select a strategy • Undertake a plan • Evaluate and adjust • Sustain and spread

15. IE Leadership Ethics: Four Points of the Ethics Compass • 1. Demonstrate that ethics is a priority • 2. Communicate clear expectations for ethical practice • 3. Practice ethical decision making • 4. Support your local ethics program

16. IE Domains of Ethics in Health Care • 1) The domain of IntegratedEthics concerns how well the facility implements IntegratedEthics structures and processes.   • 2) Ethical Practices in Government Service concerns how well the facility fosters behavior appropriate for government employees (serving the public good in federal agencies). • 3) Ethical Practices in the Everyday Workplace concerns how well the facility supports ethical behavior in everyday interactions in the workplace.

17. IE Domains of Ethics in Health Care • 4) Patient Privacy and Confidentiality concerns how well the facility protects patient privacy and confidentiality. • 5) Professionalism in Patient Care concerns how well the facility fosters behavior appropriate for health care professionals. • 6) Shared Decision Making with Patients concerns how well the facility promotes collaborative decision making between clinicians and patients. • 7) Ethical Practices in End-of-Life Care concerns how well the facility addresses ethical aspects of caring for patients near the end of life.

18. IE Domains of Ethics in Health Care • 8) Ethical Practices in Research concerns how well the facility ensures that its employees follow ethical standards that apply to research practices. • 9) Ethical Practices in Business and Management focuses on how well the facility promotes high ethical standards in its business and management practices. • 10) Ethical Practices in Resource Allocation focuses on how well the facility demonstrates fairness in allocating resources across programs, services, and patients. This domain is receiving ever increasing attention in healthcare ethics.

19. Ethics Resources • Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation & Education Professionals: www.acvrep.org • American Academy of Ophthalmology: www.aa.org • Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired: www.aerbvi.org • Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions at Illinois Institute of Technology www.ethics.iit.edu. • Chris MacDonald, Ph.D. Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, NS (Guidance for Writing a Code of Ethics) www.ethicsweb.ca/codes. • Ethics Resource Center: www.ethics.org

20. National Center for Ethics In Health Care, US Department of Veterans Affairs: www.va.ethics • The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University: www.scu.edu • US National Institutes of Health www.bioethics.od. • Western Michigan University www.wmich.edu • Daniel.Day2@va.gov