Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners carry obligations to patients, family, community, employer and profession at the same time, and they do not always point the same way. This course offers a way of reasoning that respects relational values and helps you explain and record hard decisions.
The course starts with where values come from: why ethics is its own skill, five sources of ethical guidance and how relational values sit alongside classic principles. It then helps you name the kind of ethical problem you face and introduces the four circles method for reasoning through hard cases, with checks to test and explain your decision.
Autonomy lessons cover relational autonomy and the person's final say, dignity of risk and supported decision-making, end of life, returning to Country and advance care planning. Justice lessons cover equity without favouritism, allocating scarce resources and advocating beyond the clinic. Honesty lessons cover requests from family not to tell, honesty about uncertainty and mistakes, truthful documents and not covering for others.
The final sections deal with competing loyalties to employer, community, family and profession, conscience, moral distress and resilience, traditional healing alongside clinical care, stories and images in health promotion, and research, data and community control.