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dc.contributor.authorMilligan, Eleanor
dc.contributor.authorJones, Jennifer
dc.contributor.editorClark, PA
dc.date.accessioned2018-10-23T12:31:15Z
dc.date.available2018-10-23T12:31:15Z
dc.date.issued2017
dc.identifier.isbn978-953-51-2847-2
dc.identifier.doi10.5772/65765
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/377956
dc.description.abstractIn healthcare ethics, autonomy has arguably become the ‘principal principle’. As a principle that can be readily turned into a process, the giving of ‘informed consent’ by a patient has become the surrogate measure of whether medical interventions are ethically acceptable. While ‘informed consent’ processes in medical care are presumed to be robust, research confirms that most patients do not adequately understand the medical purpose, limitations or potential ethical implications of the many medical procedures to which they consent. In this chapter, we argue that the founding tenets of autonomy and informed consent which presume people to be detached autonomous individuals who act rationally from self‐interest does not authentically capture the essence of human ‘being’. Furthermore, such assumptions do not acknowledge the deeply relational and embedded reality of the human condition which inevitably shape decision making. We contend that within healthcare organisations, the current processes of operationalising informed consent predominantly serve legal and administrative needs, while unwittingly disempowering patients, and silencing key aspects of their experience of illness. Rather than rational selfinterest, we argue that vulnerability, interdependence and trust lie at the core of ethical decision making in healthcare. Re‐framing autonomy in a way that deliberately considers the unique moral frameworks, relationships, and cultures of individuals can provide a more ethically sensitive and respectful basis for decision making in healthcare. As interdependence is an integral consideration in decision making, it must be deliberately acknowledged and incorporated into healthcare practices. Embracing a narrative approach within a shared decision making framework allows the vulnerabilities, fears and aspirations of stakeholders to be heard, creating a more effective and authentic way to meet the ethical goal of respecting those who seek care.
dc.description.peerreviewedYes
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherintechOpen
dc.publisher.placeCratia
dc.relation.ispartofbooktitleBioethics: Medical, Ethical and Legal Perspectives
dc.relation.ispartofchapter2
dc.relation.ispartofpagefrom21
dc.relation.ispartofpageto38
dc.subject.fieldofresearchOther biomedical and clinical sciences not elsewhere classified
dc.subject.fieldofresearchOther health sciences not elsewhere classified
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode329999
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode429999
dc.titleRethinking Autonomy and Consent in Healthcare Ethics
dc.typeBook chapter
dc.type.descriptionB1 - Chapters
dc.type.codeB - Book Chapters
dcterms.licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
dc.description.versionVersion of Record (VoR)
gro.facultyGriffith Health, School of Medicine
gro.rights.copyright© 2017 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
gro.hasfulltextFull Text
gro.griffith.authorMilligan, Eleanor


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