Back to Search
Start Over
'The health equity curse': ethical tensions in promoting health equity
- Source :
- BMC Public Health, BMC Public Health, Vol 21, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2021)
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- BioMed Central, 2021.
-
Abstract
- BackgroundPublic health (PH) practitioners have a strong moral commitment to health equity and social justice. However, PH values often do not align with health systems values, making it challenging for PH practitioners to promote health equity. In spite of a growing range of PH ethics frameworks and theories, little is known about ethical concerns related to promotion of health equity in PH practice. The purpose of this paper is to examine the ethical concerns of PH practitioners in promoting health equity in the context of mental health promotion and prevention of harms of substance use.MethodsAs part of a broader program of public health systems and services research, we interviewed 32 PH practitioners.ResultsUsing constant comparative analysis, we identified four systemic ethical tensions: [1] biomedical versus social determinants of health agenda; [2] systems driven agendas versus situational care; [3] stigma and discrimination versus respect for persons; and [4] trust and autonomy versus surveillance and social control.ConclusionsNaming these tensions provides insights into the daily ethical challenges of PH practitioners and an opportunity to reflect on the relevance of PH frameworks. These findings highlight the value of relational ethics as a promising approach for developing ethical frameworks for PH practice.
- Subjects :
- Mental health promotion
medicine.medical_specialty
Prevention of substance use harms
media_common.quotation_subject
education
Context (language use)
Health Promotion
Morals
Social Justice
Medicine
Respect for persons
Humans
Social determinants of health
Stigma and discrimination
Situational ethics
media_common
Health Equity
business.industry
Relational ethics
Public health
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Public relations
Mental health
Health equity
Public Health
Public aspects of medicine
RA1-1270
business
Autonomy
Research Article
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14712458
- Volume :
- 21
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- BMC Public Health
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....3febcc81688d8a09c3809dc3a71a28c7