Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Alan Melnick, MD, MPH, Family Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, 5181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, Portland, OR 97239 and Ruth Gaare Bernheim, JD, MPH, Division of Public Health Policy and Practice, University of Virgina School of Medicine, PO Box 800717, Charlottesville, VA 22908-0717, 434-924-3487, rg3r@virginia.edu.

Public health research frequently poses ethical challenges not seen with medical and basic science research. The purpose of this innovation session is to explore how public health researchers can use the new Principles of the Ethical Practice of Public Health (the Code) to address the range of challenges in community based research. One goal of the session will be to specify and explicate the Code's principles and philosophy, particularly as they relate to public health research, to provide public health researchers and practitioners with a source of ethical guidance grounded in the profession's own ethical principles. A second goal is to explore ways that public health researchers can promote integrity in the public health profession at a time when public trust is critical. Using a series of prompting questions, participants in this session will help inform the development of a practical framework for using the Code in public health research activities. The 1.5 hour session will be divided into two parts: 1) remarks from a panel of seasoned public health professionals from academia and national, state and local public health organizations, including research organizations, who will reflect on their experiences and challenges associated with the promotion of ethical practice in public health research; and 2) a facilitated discussion involving panel and session participants. We anticipate this discussion will begin to address the challenge of making the Code user-friendly for public health researchers facing ethical dilemmas in designing and conducting public health research.

Learning Objectives:

• Determine how public health activities involving the collection and analysis of un-consented personal or group identifiable data, such as communicable disease surveillance and public health program evaluation data, are commonly used for research activities, including publication.
• Determine how researchers can ethically involve communities as participants in research without compromising individual rights and the scientific integrity of research.
• Assess the adequacy of current guidance on applicable research ethics provided by the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies that provide grant funding for public health research.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation