LI Course
CE Hours: 3 contact hours

Partnership: This Institute may be of interest to members of the APHA Ethics Special Interest Group

Statement of Purpose and Institute Overview: The purpose of this course is to provide public health professionals with tools and practical examples to address ethical challenges that commonly arise in the practice of public health. Public health officials regularly have to balance competing ethical and professional obligations (e.g., efficiently but fairly allocating scarce resources, respecting individual rights while safeguarding the public’s health, protecting underserved and marginalized communities while engaging and sharing information in a transparent manner, and ensuring data confidentiality and individual privacy while conducting surveillance). After introducing the basics of public health ethics, the workshop will engage participants in a discussion of case studies on issues that public health officials are likely to face. Developed in consultation with ethicists and public health directors, these cases will illustrate how to use ethics frameworks, such as the Principles of the Ethical Practice of Public Health, developed by the Public Health Leadership Society.

Session Objectives: Describe basic concepts of public health ethics. Analyze ethical issues in particular cases from public health practice. Evaluate the ethical dimensions of alternative courses of action for a case or policy, including actions about which there is uncertainty regarding whether and when to use public health legal authority. Discuss specific ways to integrate ethical considerations in the day-to-day decision-making in public health departments.