Building Public Health Ethics Capacity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

This presentation provides an overview of efforts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to increase public health ethics capacity. Ongoing capacity-building efforts include development of a seminar series open to all CDC employees and development of a foundational course related to public health ethics. Since 2006, CDC's Public Health Ethics Committee has sponsored seminars with invited speakers. These seminars expose CDC employees to eminent public health ethicists from different sectors and perspectives. The foundational public health ethics course is online and available to CDC's entire workforce, including personnel assigned to domestic and international stations. The foundational course also serves as a prerequisite for more advanced training. Implementation and evaluation strategies are also discussed. The foundational course includes 10 lessons that provide learners with a definition of public health ethics, discussion and examples of organizational benefits of public health ethics, and a delineation of public health and clinical ethics. Additional primary topics include an overview of predominant ethical theories, public health values, and public health principles. Learners are also provided with scenario-based opportunities to practice ethical decision-making and activities designed to increase awareness of multiple perspectives. Learners interested in acquiring further knowledge regarding public health ethics can complete additional topics related to CDC's public health ethics infrastructure and resources. This session concludes with a description of CDC's future plans to develop advanced training for Public Health Ethics Committee embedded staff throughout the agency.