Aligning the moral compass: Meeting public health ethics needs in nova scotia, Canada

The Nova Scotia Health Ethics Network (NSHEN) provides ethics support for the province of Nova Scotia, Canada, primarily through education and other capacity building activities. We conducted a “lessons learned” activity after H1N1 and through that process identified a need for greater capacity around public health ethics in Nova Scotia. Since then, we have sought to both meet the ethics needs of public health professionals and increase capacity around public health ethics through a variety of means. In this presentation I first describe the public health ethics related needs identified in Nova Scotia. I identify the issues that were of particular interest to public health professionals and questions about public health ethics raised by individuals working in other areas of health care delivery. I then present various strategies we have developed in order to meet these needs and build public health ethics capacity in Nova Scotia. These include telehealth sessions, presentations to ethics committees, a pre-conference, workshops, involvement with provincial all hazards planning, and the development of a public health ethics decision-making framework. I briefly describe the process of designing and delivering these strategies and highlight aspects of the Nova Scotia context that give rise to particular opportunities and challenges. I will conclude by identifying the next steps for our work, including increasing capacity for public health ethics consultation and integrating public health ethics into other ethics education activities.