Values and Ethics

Examines the ethical considerations and wide range of values underpinning healthcare improvement work, enabling more rigorous reflection and discussion.

Alan Cribb (Author), Vikki Entwistle (Author), Polly Mitchell (Author)

9781009325202, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 16 May 2024

44 pages
22.8 x 15 x 0.3 cm, 0.09 kg

Ethics involves examining values and identifying what is good, right, and justified – and why. Diverse values and ethical issues run through healthcare improvement, but they are not always recognised or given the attention they need. While much effort goes into understanding whether intervention X effectively leads to change Y, questions such as 'is X ethically acceptable?', 'does Y count as an improvement?', 'should Y be prioritised?', and 'if so, why?' are sometimes neglected. This Element demonstrates the ethical considerations and rich array of values that inevitably underpin both the goals of healthcare improvement (what aspects of quality or what kinds of good are pursued) and how improvement work is undertaken. It outlines an agenda for improvement ethics with the aim of helping those involved in healthcare improvement to reflect on and discuss ethical aspects of their work more explicitly and rigorously. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

1. Introduction
2. Ethics and Healthcare Improvement
3. Extending Explicit Thinking about Ethics in Healthcare Improvement
4. The Practical Challenges of Bringing Ethical Analysis to Healthcare Improvement
5. Conclusions
6. Further Reading
Contributors
References.

Subject Areas: Medicine: general issues [MB]