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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Michael B Blank, PhD, Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research, University of Pennsylvania, 3535 Market Street, Room 3020, Philadelphia, PA 19104, 215-349-8488, mblank2@mail.med.upenn.edu, Raymond P Lorion, PhD, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, 3700 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, and Paul Root Wolpe, PhD, Center for Bioethics, University Of Pennsylvania, 3401 Market St., Suite 320, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
Public health scientists and service providers, genuinely concerned for the welfare of those who suffer from emotional and behavioral disorders, seek to prevent the onset of disorders, to mitigate the immediate and long term consequences of illness, and promote optimal health for all. For good or bad, public health interventions are designed and introduced intentionally to alter the lives of those whom they touch. By definition, the targets of preventive efforts do not present diagnosable disorders and most are unaware that they are at-risk for such outcomes. Similarly, wellness and health promotion efforts, assuming that they operate as intended, alter the developmental experiences of those involved. Rarely, however, do the participants have any say in implementation of the intervention, or awareness of the intervention's intent, or perhaps even of its existence. Our purpose in this paper is to examine the legitimacy of that practice and to offer to the field suggestions for adding informed consent to recruitment and implementation procedures. We raise these issues because we believe that heightened consideration must be paid to the ethics of implementing interventions to prevent disorder and promote health. Increased health consumer sophistication, widespread publicity about claims of potential harms of public health interventions (such as vaccination), suspicion in certain subpopulations about the underlying motivations of public health activities, and other concerns demand a reevaluation of the ethical underpinnings of our intervention efforts. Without more specific guidelines for the unique ethical challenges confronting us, we may find some of our efforts thwarted at the expense of the health and welfare of vulnerable members of society.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) will be able to
Keywords: Ethics Training, Evidence Based Practice
Related Web page: www.uphs.upenn.edu/cmhpsr/
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.