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Research Ethics, Informed Consent And The Disempowerment Of First Nation Peoples, Juan M. Tauri

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Recently, Indigenous commentators have begun to analyse the way in which institutional Research Ethics Boards (REBs) engage with Indigenous researchers and participants, respond to Indigenous peoples' concerns with academic research activities, and scrutinise the ethics proposals of Indigenous scholars. Of particular concern for Indigenous commentators is that the work of REBs often results in the marginalisation of Indigenous approaches to knowledge construction and dissemination, especially in relation to the vexed issue of informed consent. Based on analysis of the results of research with Indigenous researchers and research participants, this paper argues that institutionalised REBs' preference for 'universal' and 'individualised' approaches …

Overdiagnosis, Ethics, And Trolley Problems: Why Factors Other Than Outcomes Matter-An Essay, Stacy M. Carter

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In February 2014, the non-governmental Swiss Medical Board recommended that mammography programmes in Switzerland may eventually be closed down because they might not deliver more benefits than harms. In the resulting uproar the board was accused of being "unethical." Controversy about mammography has persisted in the UK, US, Canada, and elsewhere, and disputes about overdiagnosis exist in prostate cancer, chronic kidney disease, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and many other conditions. People concerned about overdiagnosis are compelled by evidence of harms outweighing benefits. But not everyone is equally compelled. This may be because of disagreements over the evidence, conflicts of interest, or …

The Ethics Of Menu Labelling, Stacy M. Carter

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In this commentary, I explore the ethically relevant dimensions of menu labelling. The evidence that menu labelling changes purchasing or consumption behaviour is contentious and inconclusive; there is some suggestion that menu labelling may preferentially influence the behaviour of healthier and wealthier citizens. Some suggest that menu labelling is unjust, as it fails to direct resources towards those who most need them. An alternative is to see menu labels as just one of a set of strategies that can increase people's real opportunities to be healthy. Complementing strategies will be necessary to ensure that all citizens can consider and value …

Health Promotion Practice, Research Ethics And Publishing In The Health Promotion Journal Of Australia, Stacy M. Carter, Annette J. Braunack-Mayer, Jonine Jancey

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This special issue of the HPJA focuses on ethics in the context of health promotion practice. This editorial takes a narrower focus: the issue of Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) approval for health promotion research, evaluation and quality assurance (QA). We will focus on three papers in the special issue: each argue that those working in health promotion should consider ethics from the very beginning of their research, evaluation and/or QA activities. The first paper, by Ainsley Newson and Wendy Lipworth, is entitled ‘Why should ethics approval be required before publication of health promotion research?’ In it they argue that …

Ethics And Health Promotion: Research, Theory, Policy And Practice, Annette J. Braunack-Mayer, Stacy M. Carter

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This special issue of the HPJA deals with ethics and health promotion. The accompanying editorial focuses particularly on Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) approval for health promotion research, evaluation and quality assurance (QA), based on the first three papers in this issue. In this brief editorial, we introduce the remaining papers, noting some common threads that are woven through the papers.

Resisting Condescending Research Ethics In Aotearoa/New Zealand, Juan M. Tauri

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Recently, Indigenous scholars have raised a number of concerns with the activities of Research Ethics Boards (REBs) and their members, including the preference of REBs for Eurocentric conceptualizations of what does or does not constitute "ethical research conduct", and the privilege accorded liberal notions of the "autonomous individual participant". Informed by the author's refl ections on the REB process, those of Indigenous Canadian and New Zealand research participants, and the extant literature, this paper begins by critiquing the processes employed by New Zealand REBs to assess Indigenous- focused or Indigenous- led research in the criminological realm. The paper ends with …

A Public Health Ethics Approach To Non-Communicable Diseases, Stacy M. Carter, Lucie Rychetnik

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Symposium editorial

How To Think About Health Promotion Ethics, Stacy M. Carter, Alan Cribb, John P. Allegrante

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Health promotion ethics is moral deliberation about health promotion and its practice. Although academics and practitioners have been writing about ethics, and especially values, in health promotion for decades, health promotion ethics is now regaining attention within the broader literature on public health ethics. Health promotion is difficult to define, and this has implications for health promotion ethics. Health promotion can be approached in two complementary ways: as a normative ideal, and as a practice. We consider the normative ideal of health promotion to be that aspect of public health practice that is particularly concerned with the equity of social …

Beyond Rhetoric In Debates About The Ethics Of Marketing Prescription Medicines To Consumers: The Importance Of Vulnerability In People, Situations And Relationships, Stacy M. Carter, Gabrielle N. Samuel, Ian Kerridge, Richard Day, Rachel A. Ankeny, Christopher F. Jordens, Paul Komesaroff

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This article examines community responses to the marketing of prescription medicines. Historically, debates about such marketing have focused on alleged unscrupulousness of pharmaceutical companies and on the quality of information provided. Six focus groups were conducted in Sydney, Australia, three with older and three with younger community members. Analysis examined interactions between group members, the positions participants took up, conflicting arguments, and explanations for variation. Participants argued specifically rather than generally about consumer marketing of medicines. Neither the moral purpose of corporations nor the quality of information in advertisements was particularly important. Instead, pharmaceutical marketing was assessed in relation to …

Ethics And Health Technology Assessment: Handmaiden And/Or Critic?, Annette J. Braunack-Mayer

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objectives: This study examines the content and role of ethical analysis in health technology assessment (HTA) and horizon scanning publications. It proposes that ethical analysis in HTA is of at least two different types: an ethics of HTA and an ethics in HTA. Methods: I examine the critical differences between these approaches through the examples of the analysis of genetic screening for breast cancer and home blood glucose testing in diabetes. I then argue that, although both approaches subscribe to similar views concerning HTA and ethics, they use different theoretical and methodological traditions to interpret and explain them. Results and …

The Ethics Of Pharmaceutical Industry Relationships With Medical Students, Wendy Rogers, Peter R. Mansfield, Annette J. Braunack-Mayer, Jon N. Jureidini

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

• Little research has been done on the extent of the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and medical students, and the effect on students of receiving gifts.

• Potential harms to patients are documented elsewhere; we focus on potential harms to students.

• Students who receive gifts may believe that they are receiving something for nothing, contributing to a sense of entitlement that is not in the best interests of their moral development as doctors.

• Alternatively, students may be subject to recognised or unrecognised reciprocal obligations that potentially influence their decision making.

• Medical educators have a duty of care to protect students from …

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Sharing Patient Information Between Professionals: Confidentiality And Ethics, Annette J. Braunack-Mayer, Ea Mulligan

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

• Careful consideration of the ethical implications is required before patient information should be shared without the patient's knowledge.

• Routine and apparently uncontroversial releases of information can be perceived as problematic by patients.

• The ethics of such "ordinary" breaches of confidence can be explored by considering the patient's autonomy, the patient's best interests, and the public interest in preserving or breaching confidentiality.

• Patient autonomy can be supported and ethical problems may be avoided when patients are given as much information as possible about foreseeable information disclosures.

The Ethics Of Participating In Research, Annette J. Braunack-Mayer

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Simple statements of risks and benefits may not reveal the complexity of human responses to research participation