Assessing Ethical Issues in Healthcare

Assess Ethical Issues

Introduction

While a blessing, old age also comes with several health-related issues, among them depression, dementia, Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular, and other chronic diseases. One of the issues that dispose of aging persons or aggravate their ill-health conditions is the lack of care, lack of social relations, and generally solitude and inactivity. While growing up through the adult age, most elderly persons enjoy the company of their marital partners. Still, by the elderly age, they might be windowed, divorced, and living along with their close relations busy engaged in work or school. The proposed research will seek to determine whether there is a connection between having a marital partner and healthy aging.

Research problem

From the age of 60, when one is considered an elderly person, health becomes an issue of concern. Because most people are physically inactive after having retired, their children married and moved out. The next of kin busy with work, the only guaranteed daily social relation is a marital partner. However, at this age, a good fraction of the elderly people are either divorced or widowed, which aggravates daily social relations. Lack of social association, therefore, predisposes the elderly person to such health conditions as depression. Also, the lack of daily care means that those with elderly-related health conditions and can’t afford the required care are left to self-care.

Research question

In determining a connection between having a marital partner and healthy aging, the proposed study will be guided by the questions;

i. What is the health status of elderly persons living with a marital partner compared to those who are widowed or divorced?

ii. Between elderly persons living with a marital partner and those who are widowed or divorced, who report more health conditions?

iii. For elderly persons living with health conditions, who are the primary source of care?

Data collection method

A quantitative cohort study will be used with data collected through an interview conducted face-to-face using a questionnaire. Alternatively, data can be collected from a hospital database on elderly people who seek healthcare services from the facility. The third alternative is using a survey, where data is collected through a questionnaire where identified elderly persons would be required to complete and email back to the research after a specific period.

The method to be selected for data collection will depend on four factors;

i. The nature, goal, and scope of the research – this is the most important factor for the method selected should be suited for the type of data required, whether primary or secondary.

ii. Time and sample size – the time available for the research will also affect the data collection method because (Kabir, 2016), for example, a face-to-face interview is time-consuming as compared to a survey, which can be completed within a significantly short time.

iii. Availability of funds – the method to be selected should fall with the budgetary limits of the study

iv. Precision/statistical significance – for research that requires clear and highly data-driven research results, then the data collection method should be able to provide data that is clear, credible, and valid.

Target population

The proposed study’s target population is older adults aged 60 years and above, which is the age recognized by the World Health Organization as the age for elderlies, especially in the Western developed world. The ethical issues associated with this group in research include;

i. The need for informed consent

ii. The need for protection of privacy concerns and maintenance of anonymity

iii. Elder abuse – there might be cases of elder abuse encountered in the course of the research. Elder abuse includes negligent or intentional acts that might cause harm or expose the elderly to harm (Bellingtier & Sharifian, 2016).

iv. The vulnerability of the elderly group – because of this group’s old age-is vulnerability to health conditions, which is an ethical issue for researchers. Such vulnerabilities might include detrimental health conditions that affect the quality of data collected, e.g., dementia.

Alternative target population

The current research target only the elderly. It is therefore impossible to research any other population.

Accessing study participants

The sample for the study will be recruited through the snowball sampling method. The Research will be carried out in a single neighborhood, where the researcher will rely on word of mouth for referrals to potential elderly persons in the neighborhood. For credibility, the initial contacts with elderly persons will be done in the company of the area/local administrators, e.g., community leaders. Because of the snowballing sampling method, it is obvious that elderly persons who are willing to participate in the study will have known about the study; thus, informing them and requiring their informed consent will not be a strenuous process. However, for elderly persons who are limited in their cognitive abilities due to old age or other health conditions, they will only be included after an adult family member’s consent. Data will be collected in the presence of this family member.

The study will be conducted preferably in a middle-class neighborhood where elderly people can financially support their lifestyle. Based on this study’s research objective, a middle-class neighborhood is best suited to deliver appropriate results. This is based on the understanding that a low-class neighbor will have extreme poverty and other factors that significantly influence health outcomes to render the presence or absence of a marital partner irrelevant. Additionally, a first-class neighborhood will be unrepresentative. The elderly living in this neighborhood are financially capable of hiring care services or seeking healthcare that would make the presence or absence of a marital partner insignificant.

Consequently, because of the middle-class status of the neighborhood where this study will be conducted and the budgetary constraints of this research, there will be no compensation offered to the interviewees. However, if the research finds a case of elderly abuse, they will follow the state’s laws. The research will be conducted in a neighborhood where the researcher has no relations, and he is not known. Because of the research being not known or having relations, and by not providing any compensation to the study participants, there will not be any possibility of a conflict of interest (Field & Lo, 2009).

Ethical issues arising with compensation

Commodification – compensation for research seems to shift the need for pure uninfluenced information to a sense that research is just any other commodity that can be bought (Grady, n.d.). Moreover, compensation in research presents ethical concerns as it erodes the authenticity of research and places a value on it, especially when compensation is done using prevailing market models of payment.

Skewed sample – compensation is more attractive, and thus, some participants will be attracted to participate just because of the money offered. Primarily, compensation is attractive to persons with low income, who might not be suited for the research objective. This skews the sample and the results.

Coercion and Undue inducement – under the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, informed consent should be obtained under conditions of the lowest possible influence or coercion (Grady, n.d.). Compensation is a possible form of undue influence, especially for poverty-stricken neighborhoods or when the offer is too good to refuse, thus, an ethical concern.

Measures for confidentiality and mitigation of coercion

All identifying details for the research participants, e.g., names, addresses, or any other details, will be removed from the interview documents. Contact list and other recruitment documents will be destroyed once no longer needed. All files will be encrypted and password-protected. The data collected for the research will be stored in locked rooms and cabinets. All staff involved in the research will be trained in the IRB-approved methods for data management and storage (Kaiser, 2009).