Using the public health code of ethics for decision-making in complex political environments

Session Description: Recognizing the importance of organizational ethics for public health practice, public health professionals have developed a Code of Ethics to address the relationship between public health institutions and the populations they serve. In implementing the code successfully, local health administrators must encourage managers and staff to integrate ethics into training, management, and decision-making processes. For local health departments, the Code can provide guidance and a foundation for ethics discussions about all public health activities, including disease prevention, health promotion, research, and program evaluation. In addition, the Code can become a catalyst for management and staff reflection and deliberation about the ethical dimensions of their daily activities and about how they can continually improve their practices and policies to reflect ethical values. Using case studies, this session will examine how a typical local health department can adapt the Public Health Code of Ethics and apply it to local public health practice.

Practical Application: Using case examples and facilitated discussion, this session will help participants understand how they can incorporate ethical principles in daily public health practice. They will learn how they can apply a Code of Ethics to real problems in public health practice, and found how it can be helpful in insuring the dutiful, yet restrained exercise of public health police powers.