Medical Ethics How Does the Study of

Medical Ethics How does the study of medical ethics impact decisions in social services & healthcare? In the peer-reviewed Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, Professor Paul Adams explains that social work ethics "…focuses on the behavior required or expected of members of a profession," and like ethical principles in the medical profession, there are "…rules, obligations, and dilemmas" to confront in social work (Adams, 2009, p. 83).

By studying medical ethics -- standards that emphasize practitioner competence, client privacy, confidentiality, potential conflicts of interest, documentation and informed consent -- a social worker can get a strong grasp of the ethical considerations in the social services sector. For example, in the "Patient's Bill of Rights," the healthcare patient has the right to informed consent, and so too do clients of social workers have the right to informed consent.

The social worker's clients also have the right to privacy, confidentiality, practitioner competence and there should be a vigilant awareness on the part of the social worker to obtain a client's informed consent before videotaping or audio taping -- or permitting another person to observe services in progress or by recorded technologies. Social workers, like healthcare providers, are ethically and morally responsible to be competent and to protect clients' best interests in all cases.

TWO: How can professionals in service positions set values for a healthy society? Given the media's obsession with wealth, youthful sexy appearances, the American Psychological Association has some helpful ideas for solutions to this ongoing problem in society. Multimedia educational resources (representing ethically and cultural diverse boys and girls) should be produced by "…healthcare providers and community-based organizations" and social service agencies, which "help facilitate effective conversations about the sexualization…" of girls, boys, women and men (American Psychological Association).

Forums need to be convened (with media members, and experts in social services and healthcare fields) to discuss more appropriate values as well as pointing to the unethical portrayals of young people's bodies in the media (APA). Social service professionals can actively oppose TV shows or advertising (through op-ed essays and letters to editors) that demeans young people by portraying them as sex objects.

FIVE: What two lessons were learned from the Tuskegee experiments? One important lesson is that before any medical "experiment" can be carried out on any persons (no matter the ethnic or cultural background of the prospective individuals to be researched) a thorough ethical and professional explanation / proposal must be presented to the proper public health authorities.

This was not done in the case of the Tuskegee syphilis; in fact the deaths of dozens of innocent men (and the infections of family members) was kept a government secret from 1932 to 1972, when the Associated Press reporter (Jean Heller) broke the story (Chadwick, NPR, 2002). Secondly, before any medical procedure or experiment can be conducted there must be informed consent from the individual. A full and honest explanation must be given to any potential candidates for health research.

SIX: How does the study of medical ethics provide guidelines for the mentally ill? In medical ethics, the patient (whether mentally stable or not) has the right to: a) receive information from doctors on his or her treatment (in the case of a mentally ill patient, the family has that right); b) make.