Ethical Issues in Health Education

1
Ethical Issues in Health Education

• Mike Perko, Narrator
• Panelist Buzz Pruitt, Lee Green, Steve Dorman

2
Ethics of Information Dissemination

• There is so much information available, when are
  people ready for all of the information?

3
Ethics of Information Dissemination

• There is so much information available
• How do health educators organize and diffuse this
  information?
• Is there time to share all the available
  information?
• Developmental stage of cliental determines what
  and how much to share
• Changing knowledge or changing behavior?

4
Ethics of Information Dissemination

• Holder of information has certain amount of power
• Information can be used to coerce people
• Ethical question of how to use information
• Health educators have to ask who, how, and what

5
Ethics of Information Dissemination

• What type of information to people want?
• Do we overload people with information?
• Do we consider individual differences when
  presenting information
• Do we force information at people?

6
Ethics of Information Dissemination

• Use of Internet in the classroom to obtain health
  information
• Do teachers limit access?
• Who is it appropriate to share a students health
  information with?

7
Ethics of Information Dissemination

• What skills does the client have to use the
  information?
• Health Literacy-ability to utilize the
  information

8
Marketing of Information

• How do you feel about information directly
  marketed to people health educators are
  responsible for?
• Example-pharmaceutical companies marketing
  directly to the public
• Should different information be provided for
  minorities?

9
Marketing of Information

• The same information should be provided, but the
  method of presentation should be appropriate for
  the target population
• Lack of health insurance, simply providing health
  information is not enough
• Advocacy is key

10
Marketing of Information

• Pharmaceutical companies directly market products
  without consulting physicians
• Health educators question this approach
• Why not market prevention methods?

11
Marketing of Information

• Need for health education and pharmaceutical
  companies to become partners

12
Marketing of Information

• Unethical for health educators not to stay up to
  date with medical advances

13
Marketing of Information

• Health educators need to realize that medical
  advances are not going anywhere
• Common good of community needs to remain most
  important

14
Marketing of Information

• Teach students to be skilled consumers when
  dealing with health information
• Teach students to communicate with physicians

15
Health Education Code of Ethics

• What are our core ethical beliefs that we should
  be striving to pass on?

16
Health Education Code of Ethics

• What are our core ethical beliefs that we should
  be striving to pass on?

17
Health Education Code of Ethics

• Health education is founded on good science and
  evidence based practice

18
Health Education Code of Ethics

• Common good
• Health disparities-as a nation we are not healthy
  until all are healthy

19
Health Education Code of Ethics

• Real issues of health disparities
• Low SES
• Literacy
• Health insurance
• Low education level

20
Health Education Code of Ethics

• Health of the nations people
• Money spent on the health of the nation
• Personal responsibility of ones own health
• Public good
• Fairness and equity in health care
• Health and access to health as a use of power

21
Health Education Code of Ethics

• Health educators ask people be the best that they
  can be
• Maslow-Hierarchy of Needs
• Self-Actualization
• Unmet needs

22
Health Education Code of Ethics

• Health education as a profession draws people who
  want to help people
• Plato-Allegory of the Cave
• Health educators must be willing to tolerate
  ethical dilemmas

23
Conclusion

• Differences in public opinion and internal values
• What is the best for all involved?
• Each panel member give closing remarks

24
Conclusion

• Challenge the viewer/listener to do ethics
• Examine ethics

25
Conclusion

• Critical to find out what the individual and the
  community want
• Advocate
• Challenge individuals that may not be acting
  ethical

26
Conclusion

• Practice of ethics
• Challenge the unethical
• Health educators are practicing ethics all the
  time
• Role model ethical behavior