Values, Ethics and Health Care

Peter Duncan

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9781412923521, 9781412923514
• eBook ISBN: 9781446246672
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Medical Theory, Practice & Reference

"This book encourages readers to reflect on the nature and values of health care practice through its challenging but accessible style. It will be a stimulating and thought-provoking read for anyone involved in day-to-day health care." - Professor Jane Wills, London South Bank University

"[This book] offers frameworks and guidance that all health care workers will find stimulating and challenging and that all of them will benefit by considering." - Professor Linda Jones, Open University

Why is thinking about values and ethics a crucial component of health care training and practice? How can we go about engaging in such thinking?

Values, Ethics and Health Care responds to these essential questions. It examines key ethical frameworks and debates within the field of healthcare, locating them firmly in their social and occupational contexts. Guiding students through a range of dilemmas and difficulties encountered in health care practice with case studies and real-life examples, this lively text illustrates how to apply knowledge to professional practice and decision-making.

Key features of the book:

- Offers a critical and reflective understanding of health care ethics and values

- Presents an interprofessional approach

- Relates theory to ?everyday? ethics

- Includes student-friendly features such as real-life examples, ?thinking about? points and links to further reading.

The book will be essential reading for undergraduates taking modules in Values, Ethics and Professional Practice as part of health studies degree programmes. It will also be useful for postgraduates as well as practitioners in the field.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• 1 Health Care: Why Should We Be Concerned about Values and Ethics?
• 2 Values, Health and Health Care
• 3 Values and Ethics in Health Care: Historical Perspectives
• 4 Ethical Thinking: Obligations and Consequences
• 5 Ethical Thinking: The Four Principles of Health Care Ethics
• 6 Ethics from the ‘Outside In’ or the ‘Inside Out’? Codes of Conduct and ‘Virtuous Lives’
• 7 The Welfare of the Individual: Health Care, Autonomy and Informed Consent
• 8 The Welfare of the Public: Justice, Resources and Health Policy
• 9 Health Care Research: Questions of Values and Ethics
• 10 Frameworks for Further Thinking
• References
• Index