2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

317347
Ethical dilemmas: Examples from public health practice – environmental health case vignette


Saturday, October 31, 2015 : 11:15 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.

Matthew Stefanak, MPH, College of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management, Kent State University, Baltimore, MD
The purpose of this presentation will be to provide a second illustration of a public health ethics dilemma frequently encountered by local health departments.  This case will illustrate how the lack of resources by disadvantaged members of a community complicates the enforcement of environmental health laws in the local health department. The case will illustrate how a local health director integrates ethics and legal powers to address the health needs of the community while respecting the rights of individuals and families.  The presenter will engage the participants in a discussion of this case, which is based on real events.  The case 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.

Learning Areas:

Administration, management, leadership
Ethics, professional and legal requirements

Learning Objectives:
Describe a common public health ethics challenge.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a Public Health Ambassador in the Office of Public Health Practice and Partnerships and Instructor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Kent State University College of Public Health. I served as an Ohio county health commissioner for 24 years where I established a public health ethics committee and published several case studies about ethical decision-making in a local health department.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 1005.0: Good decision making in real time: Practical public health ethics for health officials--Fee: $300