Module 6: Signature Assignment - My Growth as a Moral Agent

Brian Davis

MondayJun 21 at 9:32am

Discussion 6 - Case Study

Step 1 -

This was an interesting study. Two doctors who did not know each others type of practice, attempting to work together on a very important study based on medical and sexual practices education. It is good that we are reading these cases, as they give me much insight into the field of work I will be going into when I graduated. Aids is a huge issue in todays society. There are fantastic drugs available today for HIV treatment, and most HIV patients can lead a relatively normal life if they use these drugs and adhere to a healthy lifestyle.

In reviewing this study, I found that both doctors had different approaches to the study, but it is my belief that they both could have been effective in what they were trying to do. I think that before these doctors started their work in this study, they should have gotten together to figure out better what each of them were going to do, and how they were going to approach their work. They both should have ethical obligations to all populations in the community. These could be possibly put down a little further in their duties, but nonetheless, they also need to do other obligations to which they have been normally assigned. I think that in terms of obligations outside their community, this can be related to other communities that have similar issues. This could be in terms of having cross community meetings with the results to help other communities tackle this problem. The problem within their own community to me should take the highest priority.

I think that the basis that a public health agency is justified for advancing their interventions on only the subgroup in their community has to do with the study at hand. This was approved by a county board or city board, thus they should go ahead with the study.

Step 2 -

I think that the appropriate public health goal in this situation is to educate gay black men on the dangers of gay sex in terms of aids, and what they can do to be more safe in that regards. So providing an intervention to improve the health and education of the community is my top priority.

From what I read, they benefits to the people in the study are that they will become much more educated on aids, and all the safety precautions involved in being healthier and safer. I do not think approval is necessary, as this is more based on education of people in a health regards, and this can be an easy study to implement.

Collapse Subdiscussion Dillon Dinh

Dillon Dinh

YesterdayJun 26 at 7:57pm

Hey Brian,

I also thought this case was particularly interesting this week. I agree that both of these doctors should have discussed their primary focus with this intervention before starting it. They both have the best interest of public health in mind Im sure but they both have different methods of getting their due to their education and background. I personally believe that they should conduct the research instead of going ahead with the community intervention because I believe the long term benefit and potential is too great to pass up. Helping one community versus the potential to help many other communities I believe is what public health professionals should strive to do in terms of improving the health status of everyone. I do like the idea of having more education on the dangers of gay sex and safety protocols however. Doing this would be less of a reason to do the intervention in the first place.

Collapse Subdiscussion Dillon Dinh

Dillon Dinh

WednesdayJun 23 at 6:29pm

Step 1.

As public health professionals, Dr Baines and Dr. Alberts both have ethical obligations to populations within their community as well as populations outside of the community. What this means is that these public health professionals must try to distribute resources and time as evenly as possible between racial, cultural, and ethnic groups. This can be difficult sometimes because balancing the line between helping targeted and population interventions can be blurred. I believe that their highest priority should be their whole community as well as populations outside their community. This is because in the long term they would be helping out so much more people as well as MSMs by having the research done and then using that research to be used in the future to help out so much more people. Another reason is that it is shown that trust is more crucial while working with vulnerable populations and by conducting and establishing the research, trust is more built upon. The basis in which the public health agency is justified in advancing interventions is that since the work of both doctors is for the public health agency, then the intervention will reach as many people in the community as possible.

Step 2.

I believe that the appropriate public health goal in this situation is they should conduct research to create new knowledge that will help and impact many other communities and not just the one they are targeting now. Doing this will help other communities for the long run and will improve the public health of many other people and I believe it is a necessary sacrifice to help many other communities. If the educational program is used as research study a possible benefit is that it will impact many friends and family members of the participants. A risk is that they might not get the proper education right away as those resources are being used to fuel the research. A risk to the control group is that they may not receive the proper education about the issue compared to the experimental arm. A benefit would be that they receive education on health, well being, and many other topics. I believe that approval from IRB is necessary. This is because human subjects are involved.

Brian Davis

ThursdayJun 24 at 2:29pm

On the topic of these two doctors, I think we are looking at things here that we might not have all the information that we might need to make the best decision here. While each might have their own priorities, their highest priorities can't be both their whole community as well as populations outside their community. Of course, this is just my opinion, but you know what they say about opinions. While in the long term they might be helping out others outside their own community, it is of my opinion that they should be starting with their own communities first.

While I agree with you on some of the issues here, it is of my opinion that the local community that they serve should be the primary focus for the immediate time being. If the work they do proves to be promising, then by all means they should share it with others outside their local area. Education to me is a primary focus.

Collapse Subdiscussion Jesica Banda

Jesica Banda

WednesdayJun 23 at 11:33pm

Step 1: Analyze the Ethical Dimensions of the Public Health Issue and Context

As public health professionals, I believe Dr. Albert and Dr. Baines have ethical obligations to other populations within their community. By conducting their research, they will be benefiting the community as well as those outside the community. The way I see it is, the research is being conducted to initiate an intervention. Overall health across a community improves health status. With improved health status we are a step closer to achieving a better overall health status. Their obligation should rest in the community that requires the intervention the most. In this case I would choose populations outside of the community so individuals within the community can received the intervention.

The public health agency is justified in advancing interventions that target only a subgroup of the community when it is medically necessary to intervene. If an issue has been identified to affect a specific group within a population an intervention is supported. Otherwise, how would a community reduce the health risks if help is not directed to assist with health issue at hand.

Step 2: Formulate Alternative Courses of Action and Evaluate their Ethical Dimensions

I feel providing an intervention that will improve the heath of the members of their community is the most appropriate public health goal in this situation. Research to create new knowledge that can help other communities is also important, but an intervention takes precedence in my opinion. An approval from an IRB is unnecessary if we are going with an intervention versus completing research.

If the educational program is used as a research study, the experimental participants will provide information to use for other interventions and benefit from the educational material. If successful health status will improve. The control group does not benefit in the experiment and risks improved health status.

Collapse Subdiscussion Dillon Dinh

Dillon Dinh

YesterdayJun 26 at 8:03pm

Hey Jesica,

I like the way you put that you think that the research is being used to initiate an intervention in the first place. I agree with you because vulnerable populations require more trust in order to work with and by conducting research first and having all the right information and facts down before presenting them in an intervention I believe is important and will build a better connection with the vulnerable population. In my opinion however I believe that the doctors should conduct the research instead of the intervention. I believe this because the potential to help many more communities like this is greater than just helping one community right now. The goal of public health professionals is to improve public health as much as possible and I believe that going this route is a better way of achieving that goal. I really liked hearing your thoughts on this case however because I found it very interesting.

Collapse Subdiscussion Latona Bates

Latona Bates

ThursdayJun 24 at 12:29am

Step 1: Analyze the Ethical Dimensions of the Public Health Issue and Context

As a public health expert, I think that each Dr. Albert and Dr. Baines have an commitment to different populations within the community. The ethical responsibility exists in terms of presenting education intervention about poor affects of black men's having sexual intercourse with other men (gayism). Through their research study, they must outline the immorality that black men-having sexual intercourse with men would deliver to the whole population. To assist the outward community, they must behavior in-intensity studies about the problem at hand and educate the whole community based on their fact-findings. The duty, which must be of the highest precedence, is their complete community. The reason for my desire is that within a community setting, an issue affecting a subset of a community must be addressed as the complete network health trouble for the reason that when no longer addressed well timed, the entire community might be affected. Therefore, the responsibility to be prioritized is their whole community.

Step 2: Formulate Alternative Courses of Action and Evaluate their Ethical Dimensions

In my opinion, the last suitable health purpose in this situation accomplishing studies to develop new expertise that might deliver advantageous influences to many groups. The intention of any clinical practice is not self-centered however hover geared towards the health of the whole populace as an entire. If educational application is used as a research have a look at, the blessings might be that experimental professionals could get new knowledge to help whole populations in destiny and that experimental professionals have an possibility to meet at once with the affected man or woman and subsequently accumulate first-hand facts. This is commonly the most inexpensive method of accumulating information. The dangers to the control institution is that privateness of the manipulate institution may be compromised and the benefit is that they will be capable of getting assist in actual time. For any studies to be conducted, approval from the Institutional review board is necessary. Based on the primary solution to the query and on the grounds that studies changed into geared closer to the complete populations, approval from the IRB is obligatory.

References:

Coughlin, S. S., & American Public Health Association. (2009). Case studies in public health ethics. Washington, D.C: American Public Health Association.

Turner, R. I. (2009). A guide to public health research needs. New York: Nova Science Publishers.

Edited by Latona Bates on Jun 25 at 9:15pm

Brian Davis

ThursdayJun 24 at 3:02pm

I also agree that both doctors have a commitment to the different populations within the community. But I believe that their priorities should be their own community first. The ethical responsibility does exist, and I do also believe that education intervention would be a strong idea for the targeted population. I think that education of the effected and targeted population is of vital importance, and a key issue would be how to go about doing this. Some type of informal community meeting to me would be a good start. I think that the outward community would benefit from the education and research that would go into the local community, but the doctor's first priorities should be their own populations first. I am not quite sure by the discussion here what your ethical preference is, but I think we can all agree that the public health of the local community should come first and foremost.

Brian Davis

FridayJun 25 at 11:36pm

Discussion 6 Part 3

Step 3: With the view of helping other various communities, this project should proceed as a research study with the aim of identifying various issues affecting the community’s health. Through this, the experts are able to devise solutions to minimize identified issues from recurring as well as solving other emergent issues in future. The ethical principle, which takes the priority, is providing clinical interventions to the entire community through a well-conducted research identifying clinical health issues affecting the community as a whole.

The idea of helping the immediate local community is always beneficial, but in terms of the bigger picture, we feel that moving forward as a research study will make the most difference for more people. With that in mind, doing a broader based study will provide help to the local community as well.