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The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has caught the attention of the world as it challenges the status quo on human operations. As AI has dramatically impacted education, healthcare, industry, and economics, a Catholic ethical study of human dignity in the context of AI in healthcare is presented in this article. The debates regarding whether AI will usher well or doom the dignity of humankind are occasioned by increasing developments of technology in patient care and medical decision-making. This paper draws from Catholic ethics, especially the concepts of inherent human dignity, the sanctity of human life, and morality in the medical field. It talks about using AI to upgrade healthcare outcomes without losing the essential humanity of human dignity in medical practice. It also touches on the most likely ethical issues: the morality of AI-related decisions and the depersonalization of health care. Finally, it provides a framework that brings AI development in tandem with a Catholic vision of human dignity and supports a healthcare system that caters to the common good but correctly respects the irreplaceable value of the human person and highlights moral responsibility., Competing Interests: Declarations. Confict of interest: We do not have any conflict of interest for this study. Ethical Approval: There was no human involvement in the data collection procedure. As a result, ethical approval was not required for this investigation, and no ethical violations have occurred., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Maintaining human dignity through sanitation is a perennial challenge and highlights the externalities of sanitation and hygiene services (SHS). In Nigeria, 23.2% practise open defecation, and 45.5% use basic sanitation services, although conventional sewerage systems are rare. This study determines SHS and their predictors in the context of local governance in southwest Nigeria., Methods: The cross-sectional study applied a five-stage sampling technique and elicited information from 542 respondents using a validated semistructured questionnaire. The study results are presented by descriptive and inferential statistics., Results: The mean age of respondents was 48.2±0.8 y. Of these, 64.2% were homeowners, and 40.0% were in the lower wealth quartiles. While 76.9% of respondents had access to toilets, only 16.6% and 18.1% benefitted from safely managed and basic sanitation services, respectively, with 21.2% practising open defecation. Open defecation (42.6%) was prevalent primarily in the Ayedaade local government area (LGA), while safely managed sanitation services (27.6%) and limited sanitation services (54.1%) were predominant in the Olorunda and Ilesa-West LGAs. The predictors influencing household sanitation services included residence, ethnicity and wealth., Conclusions: There were significant inequalities in sanitation access and critical infrastructure, and sanitation quality gaps exist among respondents. The prevalence of open defecation was high, and there was variation in access to sanitation services across different LGAs., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.)

In this paper, I question the argument from human dignity found in the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights (UDHGHR) and in the recent views of the International Bioethics Committee (IBC). I focus on what this argument says about the permissibility of two broad categories of reprogenetic choices that may be available to prospective parents in the genomic era. The argument from human dignity holds that non-medical genetic selection and somatic enhancements ought to be prohibited because they violate the principle of human dignity. I argue that human dignity need not be violated by the enterprise of human genetic selection/somatic enhancement if reasonable social safeguards are established. In particular, I argue that respecting the reprogenetic choices of the decision-maker is paramount within the boundaries of (i) prohibiting the infliction of a shortened lifespan or pain upon the child; (ii) prohibiting the actualization of demeaning beliefs or intentions such as viewing certain groups as inferior; (iii) prohibiting the choice resulting from an expression of unwillingness to love and care for the child; and, with respect to somatic gene enhancements in particular, (iv) the potentially unjustified effects of the enhancement on others, if any, are reasonably addressable (and addressed) via social modifications so as to ensure the enhancement no longer risks adversely affecting them. With these limits, reprogenetic autonomy cannot be said to undermine the dignity of humans by creating unjustified harms or expressing demeaning ideas.

Human rights may feel self-apparent to us, but less than 80 years ago, one of the most advanced countries at the time acted based on an utterly contrary ideology. The view of social Darwinism that abandoned the idea of the intrinsic value of human lives instead argued that oppression of the inferior is not only inevitable but desirable. One of the many catastrophic outcomes is the medical data obtained from inhuman experiments at concentration camps. Ethical uncertainty over whether the resulting insights should be a part of the medical literature provides a chance to consider the seemingly irreplaceable social construct of human dignity. Would any medical benefit justify the utilization of this illicit data? Would utilization even qualify as an insult to the dignity of the exploited subjects, or is this a question about intersubjective meaning? This work discusses the wisdom in blind adherence to human dignity, the possibility of retrospective insults, moral complicity, contrary viewpoints, and possible resolutions., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Despite many calls to reduce or eliminate the use of mechanical restraint, it is still widely used in many countries. Studies using patient interviews have a very clear message: Patients experience mechanical restraint as the most humiliating intervention. There seems to be a lack of alternatives for violent patients if all other approaches to prevent the use of coercion have failed. We developed a method using 30 kg bags, originally designed for fitness purposes, to be attached to a patient's wrist or ankle under 1:1 supervision. The method was tested with 10 experienced nurses and de-escalation trainers. A video was made and presented to six outpatients who had previously experienced mechanical restraint. All participants were interviewed. Transcribed interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis. All participants approved of the method as a milder and less humiliating alternative to mechanical restraint. The nurses' main concerns were the risk of falls and the use of the bags as weapons. The latter could be controlled by using an additional bag. Patients were generally positive, especially if there was a history of abuse. The method should be further developed to replace at least some mechanical restraints. As with all 'milder means', care should be taken to really replace restraint and not to introduce additional coercion.

Biobanks are important resources for improving public health and individual care. Some legal frameworks can be more or less conducive to advancing the potential benefits of biobanks. The purpose of this article is to assess biobanking legislation and practices in Spain to determine how well they fare in such a regard. We focus here on some of the primary ethical values that ground relevant legislation and that we believe are consistent with promoting biobanking benefits: the value of scientific research; efficient use of scarce resources; and respect for the dignity of donors. We argue that although Spanish regulations advance these values in important ways, they also have provisions that undermine them and thus risk limiting the potential benefits of biobanks. We offer some suggestions for improvement.

In the Holy Quran, a strong emphasis has been placed on the dignity of human beings. There are two verses in the Quran that discuss the differences between humans and other creatures. In this article, we have tried to interpret these two verses using free selection of virtues and goodness as the criterion for human dignity that was obtained in our previous research. In the verse of trust, unlike other creatures, man accepts a trust that informs us about his cruelty and ignorance. However, if we consider this trust as freedom of choice, it can also imply injustice and ignorance alongside justice and wisdom for humans. In the verse of succession, angels tell God that human as vicegerent on earth leads to corruption and bloodshed. God does not deny this, but reminds the angels of the existence of pure ones. If we consider freely choosing goodness the differentiating factor between humans and other creatures the angels accurately refer to the possibility of creating corruption and bloodshed. However, they did not see the value of voluntary goodness compared to their own compulsory goodness. Therefore, by considering freely choosing goodness as the criterion for human dignity, these two verses can be easily interpreted., Competing Interests: The author declares no conflict of interests., (Copyright © 2024 Tehran University of Medical Sciences.)

Hermeneutics is an important philosophical mode of inquiry where discipline-specific theories and methodologies provide important windows of understanding human experiences. The author discusses the embedded truths of ethics found in the formal inquiry where human living quality phenomena are highlighted. The valuable insights and the importance to the future of the discipline of nursing focus on ideas for suggested further study., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this review.

The notion of human dignity remains a relatively complex concept that has roots in classical Greek and Roman antiquity and links to religious teachings and Kantian philosophical notions. From the Latin dignitas , human dignity means worth and implies excellence and distinction. Human dignity, also found in 20 th century constitutions and international declarations, has been considered in bioethics, general medicine, and psychiatry. The application of dignity to forensic psychiatry practice has received less attention. Through a review of texts in medicine and related fields, such as philosophy and anthropology, we aim to clarify the concept of human dignity and its application in forensic psychiatry practice. We first outline the historical origins of the term. We then consider several varieties of human dignity applied in medical ethics and psychiatry. We review individuals' lived experiences of indignity and dignity's place in forensic practice in different loci. We present recent scholarship related to human dignity and highlight the importance of dignity in forensic practice. Focusing on dignity in evaluator-evaluee and doctor-patient relationships should improve forensic work. Training in dignity-imbued forensic practice should remind us of the human dimensions of those we serve in the forensic arena., (© 2024 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.)

From the Catholic perspective, in vitro fertilization (IVF) is morally problematic because it artificially separates the procreative and unitive aspects of the conjugal act. Embryo selection (ES) in the context of IVF is an injustice against the resulting embryos because it treats them as commodities and works against their right to life by determining their implantation potential in light of their features. The Church opposes the eugenics mentality underlying ES. Meanwhile, the IVF industry increasingly uses artificial intelligence (AI) for ES. However, doing so could worsen the injustice by deepening the disrespect of human lives under the technocratic paradigm. As such, Catholic bioethicists are encouraged to advocate for the Church's teachings with renewed vigor. In this commentary, we will examine (1) ES in the context of IVF, (2) using AI for ES, (3) the moral implications of using AI for ES, and (4) points for further consideration. Summary: Using AI for Embryo selection in the context of IVF deepens the disrespect of human lives under the technocratic paradigm., Competing Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© Catholic Medical Association 2023.)

Informed consent is ethically incomplete and should be redefined as empowered consent. This essay challenges theoretical assumptions of the value of informed consent in light of substantial evidence of its failure in clinical practice and questions the continued emphasis on autonomy as the primary ethical justification for the practice of consent in health care. Human dignity-rather than autonomy-is advanced from a nursing ethics perspective as a preferred justification for consent practices in health care. The adequacy of an ethic of obligation (namely, principlism) as the dominant theoretical lens for recognising and responding to persistent problems in consent practices is also reconsidered. A feminist empowerment framework is adopted as an alternative ethical theory to principlism and is advanced as a more practical and complete lens for examining the concept and context of consent in health care. To accomplish this, the three leading conceptions of informed consent are overviewed, followed by a feminist critique to reveal practical problems with each of them. The need for a language change from informed to empowered consent is strongly considered. Implications for consent activities in clinical practice are reviewed with focused discussion on the need for greater role clarity for all involved in consent-beyond and inclusive of the patient-physician dyad, as the practice and improvement of consent is necessarily a transdisciplinary endeavour. Specific concrete and practical recommendations for leveraging nursing expertise in this space are presented. Perhaps what is most needed in the discourse and practice of consent in health care is nursing., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Art has limitless definitions, meanings, and modes for presentation. It is a pivotal cocreation designed to provoke and stir up artists' personal beliefs, values, and thinking. Art is uniquely received by those persons experiencing it in the moment. The author in this article illuminates the significance of the arts with the enduring ethical truths found in nursing paradigms and theoretical frameworks. The humanbecoming ethos is used to illustrate the importance of the arts in human living and its future implications for the advancement of the discipline of nursing., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this review.

The discussion around dignity in nursing philosophy has been underway for many years. The literature still lacks philosophical arguments that would justify the thesis that all people have dignity. Scholars who defend dignity as an intrinsic value most often refer to Kant. However, Kant does not seem to be the most suitable candidate to defend the thesis that all human beings possess dignity. In this paper, I attempt to show that Aristotle's and Aquinas's views can help justify this thesis. To this end, I distinguish between actual dignity, potential dignity, and existential dignity. I state that all human beings have existential dignity or potential dignity., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

One of the critical aspects in discussing human dignity is the establishment of its criterion, a standard unique to humans. This criterion should effectively create a fundamental and structural distinction from other creatures. Initially, our focus was on the endeavors of biologists to differentiate the human species from others, emphasizing the physical aspects. However, physical and genetic differences lack the necessary characteristics to serve as a criterion for dignity. Subsequently, we explored the notion of this criterion in human behavior. Yet, given that behavior stems from human thought, it proves unsuitable as a criterion for dignity. Thus, our quest led us to explore human wisdom. However, since wisdom, like other abilities, serves as a tool for improved living and is present to some extent in other animals, it proves inadequate as a criterion. We have determined that the distinguishing characteristic lies in the power of choice or free will, setting humans apart from other living beings whose behavior is solely instinctual or driven by needs. Consequently, free choice forms the foundation of dignity, assigning value to the chooser based on the choices made., Competing Interests: There is no conflict of interests in this study., (Copyright © 2023 Tehran University of Medical Sciences.)

There are concerns that participation in open science will lead to various forms of exploitation - of researchers and scholars in low-income countries and under-resourced institutions. This article defends a contrary thesis and demonstrates the exact ways the underexplored notions of communal relationships, human dignity and social justice - and the normative principles to which they give rise - grounded in African philosophy can usefully address critical concerns regarding exploitation in the sharing of research resources to facilitate open partnership/collaboration and reuse. Further research is required to study the specific roles different institutions can play in facilitating open practice and contribute towards establishing effective structures that can enhance equity and balance unfavourable power asymmetries., (© 2022 The Authors. Developing World Bioethics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

This article, prompted by Heidi Crowter's campaign to eliminate the discriminatory aspects of current abortion law, outlines the challenges to good governance in a context of bioethical plurality. First, the nature of the plurality is sketched. Secondly, some reflections are presented on how those who have governance responsibilities might ease the tensions engendered by the plurality; and, at the same time, how the discontented governed might reasonably press their views. Thirdly, a model of good governance (demanding integrity by those who govern and respect for the global commons) is introduced. The conclusion is that good faith governance merits our respect, but it does not guarantee particular outcomes or positions that will meet with the approval of all bioethical constituencies or individuals. Accordingly, we have to learn not only to live with rocks and hard places but also to find civilized ways of debating our differences.

The COVID-19 global pandemic is understood to be a multidimensional crisis, and yet undertheorised is how it reinforced the politics of dehumanisation. This article proposes an original framework that explains how dehumanisation undermines the human dignity of individuals with minoritised socio-economic identities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The framework identifies four interrelated mechanisms of crisis-driven dehumanisation: threat construction, expanded state coercion, reinforcement of hierarchies, and normalisation of deaths. The article argues that an understanding of these mechanisms is crucial for capturing the complexity of human rights deterioration during the COVID-19 pandemic. The article uses the plausibility probe method to demonstrate macro-processes of dehumanisation, with illustrative empirical examples from diverse societies during COVID-19. It proposes a framework for understanding these dehumanisation processes that can apply to other transnational crises., (© The Author(s) 2023.)

Background: Although published studies have examined the perceptions of caregivers who are attending to older adults with dementia concerning the values of human dignity and/or autonomy in institutional settings, none have explored the possible differences in actual behavior that relates to these values for caregivers from diverse ethno-cultural backgrounds., Aims: Explore how caregivers with varied cultural backgrounds may differ in their real-time behavior regarding the autonomy and dignity of older adults with dementia and thereby determine whether that real-time behavior reveals new aspects of respect and disrespect for both the autonomy and dignity of those older adults., Research Design and Methods: A qualitative research based on non-participatory observations, was meticulously recorded using a written journal and a rigorous microanalysis to analyze the collected data. We made 58 shift-based observations (morning and evening) of 29 caregivers from 3 ethno-cultural groups working in 3 nursing homes in Israel. These groups included Israeli-born Jews (Sabras), Israeli Arab-Muslims (Arabs), and immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (IFSU)., Results: (1) IFSU caregivers demonstrated more respect for autonomy and dignity, but also demonstrated disrespect for these values. (2) the main difference between the IFSU caregivers and other caregiver groups pertained to respect for their autonomy. The main specific facets of autonomy where IFSU caregivers surpassed their colleagues were information provision and persuasion. (3) toward both autonomy and dignity of these older adults, previously unaccounted for in the models we used, were discovered among the varied groups of caregivers, with only minor gaps between these groups., Discussion and Implications: This study-the first of its kind to focus on the real-time behaviors of caregivers from diverse ethno-cultural backgrounds-reveals the potential effects of culture on applying practices related to dignity and autonomy during daily care. The findings may have important implications for caregiver training in multicultural societies.

A recently published correspondence proposed a solution for survival in the context of Indonesia using a spiritual-philosophical perspective to fight the pandemic crisis. However, such principle can be too exclusive and restrictive in its application to the pandemic crisis. One must also consider the alternative approaches in solving the crisis from a multidisciplinary and multisectoral approach. This paper proposes the principle of 'human dignity' as an inclusive approach to humanitarian crisis., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Beta-thalassemia major is a genetic blood disorder that impacts hemoglobin production with several symptoms that decrease quality of life in patients. Blood transfusions may help them to regulate their hemoglobin needs, though this is a lifelong intervention. Struggling with dependent blood transfusion status impacts patients greatly including their bio, psycho, social, and spiritual health, potentially raising a bioethical issue related to human dignity., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare., (© 2023 [The Author/The Authors].)

Background: Issues such as group bias, poverty, disempowerment, and violence contribute to poor health outcomes among at-risk populations. In all countries, there exist disparities among health status with worse health outcomes in individuals categorized as having less access to resources. Systemic forces perpetuate health inequities among at-risk populations furthering the divide between those in resource-rich environments and those afflicted by a lack of resources. The social devaluing of individuals and their environment contributes to this ongoing global suffering., Method: In this article, I critically appraised the theory of transcendent pluralism: a middle-range theory of nonviolent social transformation through human and ecological dignity based on the criteria outlined by Fawcett., Conclusion: The concepts identified in this theory offer nursing the tools to facilitate social change. Despite the theory lacking significant real-world nursing practice application, it has the potential to bridge nursing's ability to influence social change through research and practice., (© 2022 NANDA International, Inc.)

Perseverance is a living phenomenon that is uniquely important with individuals, groups, and community. Persevering is persistently choosing one direction from another in spite of the urgings of others and the unknown consequences. The action of persevering reflects prized and cherished values reflective of the person's unique identity. It is an ethic of choice to be honored. This article begins an ethical straight-thinking discussion of the ethos of honoring human dignity while bearing witness with others who are persevering with life-altering turbulence with the passing of a life. A humanbecoming ethos of enduring truths will be applied to a family story.

Apparently, there is a broad scope of legal issues affecting the work with embryonic stem cells. I cannot address them all. I would like to focus on two fields of law and discuss, rather in the overview, some salient issues of German constitutional and administrative law framing the scientific research process. Compared to the sophisticated scientific work we discuss here, legal arguments and operations remain blunt and awkward, addressing rather the identity of a society than the fluid frontiers of science and technology., (© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.)

Kidney markets are prohibited in principle because they are assumed to undermine the seller's dignity. Considering the trade-off between saving more lives by introducing regulated kidney markets and preserving the seller's dignity, we argue that it is advisable to demand that citizens restrain their own moral judgements and not interfere with the judgements of those who are willing to sell a kidney. We also argue that it is advisable not only to limit the political implications of the moral argument of dignity concerns toward a market-based solution but also to re-evaluate the dignity argument itself. First, if the dignity argument is to be given normative force, it must also consider the dignity violation of the potential transplant recipient. Second, there seems to be no compelling notion of dignity that demonstrates why it is morally permissible to donate but not to sell a kidney., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

As a physician, the hardest days in medicine are when I endure great distance from the Lord in my bedside interactions with patients and families. They make me feel like driftwood without vocational direction. Given the enormity of what critically ill patients are experiencing, emotional detachment from Jesus and those I am serving creates swells of grief for me as a Catholic physician. In the intensive care unit, I tend to gravitate to big and bold occurrences. Unfortunately, one tendency I have is to think that small events yield small outcomes, while big events yield big outcomes. Such is not the case with God, whom I tend to force into finite scales when, in truth, the Creator of the universe has no limits. This essay highlights an experience in which God brought a deeper understanding of His grace from a seemingly monotonous patient encounter. I am reminded that because of God's presence in my relationship with each person, "Nothing shall be impossible." (Lk 1:37)., Competing Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© Catholic Medical Association 2021.)

Aims: To synthesize and evaluate the psychometric properties of self-report instruments that measure patient dignity., Design: A psychometric systematic review., Data Sources: A comprehensive search of studies published from inception until February 17, 2022, was performed using PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Scopus., Review Methods: The methodological quality of the psychometric studies was evaluated following the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) guidelines., Results: Eleven self-report instruments that evaluate dignity were identified. For most instruments, psychometric properties, including reliability, cross-cultural validity, responsiveness, and measurement error, had not been adequately examined. The Patient Dignity Inventory (PDI), the Jacelon's Attributed Dignity Scale (JADS), and the Inpatient Dignity Scale (IPDS) had acceptable content validity, structure validity, and internal consistency to measure dignity among adult patients under palliative care, community-dwelling older adults, and inpatients receiving daily care., Conclusion: The PDI, the JADS, and the IPDS are recommended for future clinical practice and research to measure dignity among adult patients under palliative care, community-dwelling older adults, and inpatients receiving daily care. Early identification of patients' dignity-related problems in nursing care can prevent negative health outcomes and help develop a timely intervention to promote patients' health and recovery., Impact: Given that the psychometric properties of the existing self-report dignity instruments have not been systematically assessed, the present review utilized comprehensive methods according to COSMIN to evaluate and determine the most appropriate measure for research and practice. The PDI, the JADS, and the IPDS demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties and are, thus, recommended for clinical and research applications. Nursing professionals can employ these instruments to assess and promptly identify dignity issues among both young and older adults in hospitals and communities., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

This article is the lead piece in a special report that presents the results of a bioethical investigation into chimeric research, which involves the insertion of human cells into nonhuman animals and nonhuman animal embryos, including into their brains. Rapid scientific developments in this field may advance knowledge and could lead to new therapies for humans. They also reveal the conceptual, ethical, and procedural limitations of existing ethics guidance for human-nonhuman chimeric research. Led by bioethics researchers working closely with an interdisciplinary work group, the investigation focused on generating conceptual clarity and identifying improvements to governance approaches, with the goal of helping scholars, funders, scientists, institutional leaders, and oversight bodies (embryonic stem cell research oversight [ESCRO] committees and institutional animal care and use committees [IACUCs]) deliver principled and trustworthy oversight of this area of science. The article, which focuses on human-nonhuman animal chimeric research that is stem cell based, identifies key ethical issues in and offers ten recommendations regarding the ethics and oversight of this research. Turning from bioethics' previous focus on human-centered questions about the ethics of "humanization" and this research's potential impact on concepts like human dignity, this article emphasizes the importance of nonhuman animal welfare concerns in chimeric research and argues for less-siloed governance and oversight and more-comprehensive public communication., (© 2022 The Hastings Center.)

The moral acceptability of anonymous gamete donation remains contested. Although the view that the value of parent-child relationships should not depend on genetic ties is "nearly axiomatic" among philosophers and bioethicists, one well-known dissenter remains: David Velleman. I argue that most rebuttals to Velleman have simply talked past him because they have failed to understand his fundamental point-that donor conception is a violation of human dignity and as such is wrong even if it does not harm individuals. I challenge Velleman on his own terms by endorsing his metaphysical picture before showing that donor conception is not necessarily a violation of human dignity. I show this by arguing that gamete donation is held to a double standard of self-knowledge. I develop an account of the self that recognizes that certain kinds of challenges to one's flourishing can contribute to an individual's strength and self-knowledge. I defend my view against objections that genetic knowledge is categorically different from other ways of knowing oneself and I show that donor conception can respect human dignity as long as it meets certain conditions., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Ethical discourse on prognosis disclosure is not yet well established. The core of the problem continues to be the dilemma between the right of self-determination and non-maleficence of patients. The prognosis disclosure policy based on Kantian autonomy provides a good solution for the problem. The policy includes demand for strict truth telling and its compatibility with patients' best interest. However, there remains a discrepancy between theory and practice, especially when prognosis is disclosed just prior to their death. Kantian theory of prognosis is supplemented by a moralistic perspective. The moralistic perspective places high importance on temporality and relationships with others, which all human beings inherently possess. From the moralistic viewpoint, decisions about prognosis disclosure at the final stages of life must be individualized in order to be authentically autonomous. The decision to disclose a prognosis or not can only be determined by the relationships fostered over time with patients.

This paper examines individual and societal duties to older adults in sub-Saharan Africa who reside in skipped generation households, which are households in which a young and old generation live together with the middle generation absent. As they age, older adults in skipped generation households may lack the prospect of social and economic support from offspring, making their situation precarious. If ill health results in an older adult's inability to work, who will support them? If they need assistance with basic activities of daily living, who will provide it? This paper addresses these questions through the lens of African ethics. Section I appeals to the African ethic of ubuntu ('humanness') to identify normative conceptions of persons and moral character relevant to skipped generation ethics. Section II elaborates this focus by means of the virtues of gratitude and reciprocity, discussing their conditions, requirements, and limits and comparing surrogate parent-child to parent-child cases. Section III explores the application of an ubuntu ethic to society as a whole and defines societal duties toward older adults by appealing to African conceptions of dignity and justice., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The article presents the judgment of the German Federal Constitutional Court from 26 February 2020 on assisted suicide. The statements regarding human dignity, human rights and the relationship between citizens and the state are examined. Furthermore, the consequences resulting from this interpretation of human dignity for states that are pluralistic and based on human rights will be laid out. The court's judgment limits the power of parliaments and poses a challenge to many laws in states that see themselves as pluralistic, human rights-based states., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

As sentient beings and as patients, clinicians, and Catholics, we long for touch and union. With COVID19, the distancing inherent during the pandemic manifests itself in medical and spiritual ways as we yearn to connect with our patients, our physicians, and the Eucharist., Summary: As sentient beings and as patients, clinicians, and Catholics, we long for touch and union. With COVID19, the distancing inherent during the pandemic manifests itself in medical and spiritual ways as we yearn to connect with our patients, our physicians, and the Eucharist. COVID19 distancing manifests in medical & spiritual ways as we yearn to connect with our patients, our physicians, and the Eucharist., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© Catholic Medical Association 2021.)

Recent decades have witnessed a growing number of states around the world relying on border control measures, such as immigration detention, to govern human mobility and control the movements of those classified as "unauthorised non-citizens." In response to this, an increasing number of scholars from several disciplines, including psychologists, have begun to examine this phenomenon. In spite of the widespread concerns raised, few studies have been conducted inside immigration detention sites, primarily due to difficulties in gaining access. This body of research becomes even scanter when it comes to the experiences of detained women. This study is the first of its kind to have surveyed 93 women confined in an Italian immigration detention facility. A partial mediation model with latent variables was tested through partial least structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings revealed the negative impact that unfair immigration procedures have on detained women's human dignity, which in turn negatively affects their self-rated physical and mental health. Overall, our study sheds light on the dehumanisation and damage to human dignity that immigration detention entails, as well as its negative impact on the health of those affected. This evidence reinforces the image of these institutions as sites of persistent injustice, while stressing the need to envision alternative justice-oriented forms to address human mobility., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Esposito, Di Martino, Briozzo, Arcidiacono and Ornelas.)

In recent times, informed consent has been adopted worldwide as a cornerstone to ensure autonomy during HIV testing. However, there are still ongoing debates on whether the edifice on which informed consent requirements are grounded, that is, personal autonomy, is philosophically, morally, and practically sound, especially in countries where HIV is an epidemic and/or may have a different ontological perspective or lived reality. This study explores the views of participants from Zambia. In-depth and focus group discussions were conducted at various locations in Lusaka and Chongwe, Zambia. Participants came from various demographics, including people living with HIV (PLHIV), healthcare professionals and workers, policymakers, pregnant women, churchgoers, teachers, rural-based persons, and police officers. Data were manually analysed by conducting inductive and deductive thematic analyses. Results show that participants were not in favour of HIV policies that promote personal autonomy at the expense of pursuit of the common good. Participants viewed interdependence, not autonomy, as an essential characteristic of being human. The participants' views have a realistic potential to provide a contextual and appropriate ethical, respectful, and realistic foundation for HIV testing policies., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The Opioid substitution treatment (OST) has been highly argumentative in ways that raise important ethical issues. The stigma in treating opioid addiction continues to be a major barrier to effective management plan. It prevents individuals from seeking treatment and is associated with poor mental and physical health. OST are considered to improve outcomes in opioid dependency. They are legitimate therapeutic options because they comply with the four principles of bioethics: autonomy, no maleficence, beneficence and justice. OST plan should conceived in a way that outcomes only giving a medication to the patient. It has many ethical aspects that should be valued: fairness, respect and solidarity. However, OST may be misused or diverted, resulting in negative treatment outcomes, here comes the important role of the multidisciplinary treatment plan to contain and prevent from misuse. We will be discussing in this paper the ethical aspect of the OST and the values that should be promoted, in order to cherish and enhance the dignity of the human being, by replacing a deadly disease with a chronic one giving the patient a chance to lead a normal life., (Copyright © 2021 L'Encéphale, Paris. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Significant advancements towards a future of big data genomic medicine, associated with large-scale public dataset repositories, intensify dilemmas of genomic privacy. To resolve dilemmas adequately, we need to understand the relative force of the competing considerations that make them up. Attitudes towards genomic privacy are complex and not well understood; understanding is further complicated by the vague claim of 'genetic exceptionalism'. In this paper, we distinguish between consequentialist and non-consequentialist privacy interests: while the former are concerned with harms secondary to exposure, the latter represent the interest in a private sphere for its own sake, as an essential component of human dignity. Empirical studies of attitudes towards genomic privacy have almost never targeted specifically this important dignitary component of the privacy interest. In this paper we first articulate the question of a non-consequentialist genomic privacy interest, and then present results of an empirical study that probed people's attitudes towards that interest. This was done via comparison to other non-consequentialist privacy interests, which are more tangible and can be more easily assessed. Our results indicate that the non-consequentialist genomic privacy interest is rather weak. This insight can assist in adjudicating dilemmas involving genomic privacy., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

As an important professional value, dignity has always been an ethical concern in nursing education and practice. However, the dignity of nursing students in clinical environments has remained a little-discussed topic. This study aims to explore and describe nursing students' dignity in clinical learning environments. This study is a qualitative descriptive work in which data were collected via semi-structured, in-depth, individual interviews and subsequently analyzed according to conventional content analysis. Based on the inclusion criteria of the study, nursing students were selected from different departments of university hospitals in the south of Iran from October 2019 to December 2020 (n = 21). Sampling continued to the point of data saturation. This study has been approved by the institutional review board of the university. Two themes emerged from the data collected in the interviews: trust-based relationships and formation of professional identity. The findings of the study show that nursing students need to be supported by their instructors and perceive that the personnel and patients believe in their ability. In an effectively supportive, trust-based atmosphere, these factors can contribute to maintaining nursing students dignity. Also, showing respect for their personal identity, projecting a positive image of nursing, and giving them authority to perform executive and clinical tasks in hospital departments play a major role in the formation of nursing students' professional identity and development of their dignity. Accordingly, it is recommended that in cultural contexts and clinical learning environments, more attention should be given to nursing students' dignity.

Objective: The objective of this review was to explore whether knowledge about and practice of technology for older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia (D) had developed since our 2017 review. Furthermore, we wanted to explore the usability and acceptability of technology in the newer trials, and how these may impact quality of life, occupational performance and human dignity., Materials and Methods: We searched for primary studies published between 2017 and 2020 reusing medical subject heading (MeSH) terms in five databases - Medline, PsycINFO, Embase, Amed and Cinahl - and obtained 1452 titles. The titles were divided in six piles, two for each of the three authors. The titles were sorted utilizing the Rayyan web tool. Fourteen studies were included in this review. The Mixed Method Appraisal Tool (MMAT) was used to assess the quality of the studies examined., Results: This review included almost twice as many participants as in the 2007-2017 review. Since 2017, a shift seems to have occurred toward technologies that can be worn on the body to monitor body functions and report states, or imbalances. Moreover, research interest is now focused on mobile phone apps and wearables providing reminders and timely support, rather than on separate devices at home., Conclusion: The studies conducted since 2017 report on wearable and environmental digital assistive technologies and often with multiple purposes. Three strategies for support seem evident: prompting and reminding people with dementia, monitoring people with dementia at home using environmental sensors and biosensors and providing safety outdoors. Thus, there is still a need for further research on the impact of technologies promoting occupational performance, quality of life, and human dignity for independent living., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2022 Holthe et al.)

WHO in 2019 established the Advisory Committee on Developing Global Standards for Governance and Oversight of Human Genome Editing, which has recently published a Draft Governance Framework on Human Genome Editing. Although the Draft Framework is a good point of departure, there are four areas of concern: first, it does not sufficiently address issues related to establishing safety and efficacy. Second, issues that are a source of tension between global standard setting and state sovereignty need to be addressed in a more nuanced fashion. Third, it fails to meaningfully engage with the extent to which the conceptualisation of human dignity may justifiably vary between jurisdictions. Fourth, the meaning of harm to the interests of a future person requires clarity. Provided these four areas of concern can be addressed, the future of the global governance of human genome editing may hold promise., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Human dignity is a crucial concept in contemporary ethical, political and legal studies. However, people have different, even opposite understandings of human dignity, which has caused lots of confusion in related discourses. The Confucian notion of human dignity provides an important perspective for reflecting various theories of human dignity. In Confucian ethics, the basis of human dignity is the moral potential that every human being naturally has. Moral potential grants everyone universal dignity, while the development of moral potential grants people acquired dignity. Since all human beings have moral potential to the same extent, everyone owns universal dignity equally. Different people develop their moral potential to different extents. One's acquired dignity is positively associated with the development of her moral potential. Universal dignity is a moral status but acquired dignity is not. To pursue acquired dignity is the moral demand of universal dignity and protects people's universal dignity. Confucian discussions on human dignity provide not only a way to justify the equality of human moral status, but also a way to justify the moral obligation of protecting and developing human nature, thereby constituting a reliable theoretical basis for coping with ethical issues caused by biomedical technologies today., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Management practices prevailing in business organizations receive considerable criticism for often treating the employee as one of many resources or an instrument to achieve the organization's goals. As employee reification has so far been largely investigated in the scientific literature from the perspective of neo-Marxist approach, this article seeks to broaden the discussion by showing how social teaching of the Catholic Church can serve to solve the problem of reification. Although there is no doubt that universal norms of business ethics can serve as protection of the employee dignity from the individual's reification tendencies, moral relativism operating in postmodern life tends to call into question any universal moral norms. Therefore, this article discusses how responses to challenges posed by moral relativism can be obtained by applying methodological approaches proposed by the neo-Marxist classics Lukács, Honneth, and Catholic Social Teaching. The similarities and differences of these approaches are identified, and attention is also drawn to the possibilities and limitations of their application in business ethics practice. It is also demonstrated how understanding of human dignity and the attitude to a virtue, offered by social teaching of the Catholic Church, broadens the discussion on addressing the dangers posed by the person's reification in organizations., Competing Interests: The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Vveinhardt.)

Despite the growing popularity of direct-to-consumer genetic testing, there is minimal South African literature on the topic. The limited available research suggests that direct-to-consumer genetic testing is unregulated. However, we suggest that direct-to-consumer genetic testing is indeed regulated, and unusually so. The first step in the process - the collection of a saliva sample by consumers themselves - is unlawful on a plain reading of the National Health Act 61 of 2003 and the Regulations Relating to the Use of Human Biological Material . This is because these statutes require that certain healthcare professionals must remove saliva for genetic testing. Yet, on closer analysis, such an apparent ban on the self-collection of saliva is neither aligned with a purposive interpretation of the relevant legislation, nor would it survive constitutional scrutiny - as it impedes an individual's autonomy. It is concluded that, contrary to a plain reading of the relevant statutes, individuals can lawfully collect their own saliva for direct-to-consumer genetic testing. To provide legal clarity we recommend that the relevant provisions of the National Health Act 61 of 2003 and Regulations Relating to the Use of Human Biological the Material be amended to allow individuals to collect their own saliva samples.

On 24th March 2020, the first nationwide complete lockdown was announced by the Prime Minister of India for 21 days which was later extended to 31st May 2020. Consequently, thousands of migrant workers placed in big cities had no other option but to go back to their native villages. Their journeys back to villages- thousands of kilometres on bicycles or foot due to the non-availability of public transport amidst the travel ban- were driven by the compulsions of food and shelter. In one of many heart-wrenching incidents, sixteen laborers were run over by a freight train (all passenger trains in the wake of lockdown had been halted) while they were resting on the railway tracks. The images of the Roti (Indian bread) on the railway track strewn across were beamed on the national news channels, as a telling commentary of the unimaginable hardships of these workers. Ironically, in the eyes of law, they were trespassers under the Indian Railways Act, 1989. The Indian Railway did not pay any compensation to the victims. Their act also violated the Indian Disaster Management Act, 2005 and Indian Penal Code, 1860- the law for the breach of lockdown guidelines and the law for disobedience of order by public servants respectively- for having decided to travel amidst a travel ban. The semiotics of law-making acts 'criminal' bereft of 'moral culpability' are seldom questioned on their supposed amoral foundations. Pandemic exhibited that social fissures not only condition the individual or community actions but also the actions of the State. Minorities especially Muslims were at the receiving end of State's selective enforcement of lockdown laws in India. The various instances in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic expose the hollow claims of equality before the law and the equal protection of laws as a constitutional promise to every citizen. This article aims to unravel the ostensible and the actual moral exhibition of such Indian laws through the lens of several incidents during the nationwide lockdown in India. This paper would argue that this constructed positivist amorality needs to be deconstructed to unearth the power imbalance that it seeks to hide., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2021.)

The United Nations confirmed that privacy remains a human right in the digital age, but our daily digital experiences and seemingly ever-increasing amounts of data suggest that privacy is a mundane, distributed and technologically mediated concept. This article explores privacy by mapping out different legal and conceptual approaches to privacy protection in the context of datafication. It provides an essential starting point to explore the entwinement of technological, ethical and regulatory dynamics. It clarifies why each of the presented approaches emphasises particular aspects and analyses the tensions that arise. The resulting overview provides insight into the main strengths and limitations of the different approaches arising from specific traditions. This analytic overview therefore serves as a key resource to analyse the usefulness of the approaches in the context of the increasing datafication of both private and public spheres. Specifically, we contrast the approach focusing on data subjects whose data are being 'protected' with others, including Fair Information Practice Principles, the German right to 'informational self-determination', and the South American 'habeas data' doctrine. We also present and contrast emerging approaches to privacy (differential privacy, contextual integrity, group privacy) and discuss their intersection with datafication. In conclusion, we put forth that rather than aiming for one single solution that works worldwide and across all situations, it is essential to identify synergies and stumbling blocks between the various regulatory settings and newly emerging approaches., Competing Interests: Conflict of InterestThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

Will Artificial Intelligence (AI) re-humanize or de-humanize medicine? As AI becomes pervasive in clinical medicine, we argue that the ethical framework that sustains a responsible implementation of such technologies should be reconsidered. The emergence of AI in the clinical setting will challenge our traditional moral boundaries surrounding discussions of patient care since it is unclear how the implementation of AI will promote and enhance the humanistic dimensions of medical practice. There are reasons for concern regarding 1) the anthropological implications of AI in the clinical context; 2) the method(s) and framework(s) used to address ethical issues in medicine; and 3) the impact of AI on clinical practice, particularly in the nature of clinical judgment. These three concerns are examined in hopes of providing pointers for subsequent and more in-depth discussions regarding clinical practice but the training of future health professionals., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: This literature study describes caring science research on human dignity in different clinical practice. We already know a good deal about human dignity in nursing care but how do patients, nurses, healthcare professionals and next of kin experience human dignity in clinical practice?, Aim: To summarise studies on human dignity to gain a deeper understanding of how it can be achieved in caring science research and to gain a broader understanding of the differences and similarities across caring contexts. The aim was also to gain a broader understanding of the differences and similarities of human dignity across different clinical practice., Method: The literature review re-analysed 28 empirical studies on human dignity are experienced from acute, psychiatric, elderly and rehabilitation care. The data analysis strategy was conducted in a systematic and critical way and consisted of a five-step method., Result: Maintaining dignity was described when caregivers had the time and the will to see and listen to patient and had the courage to see what they did not want to see, allowing their inner powers to act with the purpose of doing good. In elderly care, it was important that elderly persons are involved as members of society and experience respect, confidence, security and charity. Indignity was described when caregivers did not allow patients to have their will and when they had unethical attitudes, ignoring patients and creating powerlessness. The feeling of being abandoned and not being taken seriously are also described in elderly care., Conclusion: Findings show how caregivers fulfil their ethical responsibility by seeing, listening and being a part of the time and place. The will to do good includes the courage to preserve dignity and human value rests on being created as a human being. More research is needed about ethical and moral responsibility in clinical practice., (© 2020 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Nordic College of Caring Science.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Background: As an ethical principle, showing respect for human dignity is a professional duty of all nurses. The aggressive nature of severe burn injuries makes it hard to respect the existential values and dignity of burn patients. However, only a few studies have been conducted on the preservation of the dignity of burn patients. The purpose of this study is to identify and describe burn patients' dignity as perceived by nurses, family caregivers, and burn patients., Methods: The present study has a descriptive, qualitative research design. Nurses, family caregivers and patients in the biggest burns hospital in the south of Iran were selected via purposeful sampling from October 2017 to August 2018 (n = 25). Data were collected using semi-structured, in-depth, individual interviews. Thereafter, data analysis was performed through conventional content analysis., Results: Three main themes were extracted from the information obtained in the interviews: empathic communication, showing respect, and providing comprehensive support., Conclusion: The care provided to burn patients should be combined with effective communication, spending time with them, and attending to their repetitive requests, so that they can freely express their feelings and concerns. In addition, the patients' human values and beliefs should be respected and all aspects of their existence should be taken into account to preserve their dignity. Workshops designed based on the findings of the present study can help with improving the quality of burn nursing care., (© 2021. The Author(s).)