Description
Before you begin your discussion this week prepare by reading Chapter 9 in your textbook. Read the case study located in section 9.9 of your textbook, Case 4: Internet-based HIV-AIDS Education and Prevention Programs in Vulnerable Populations: Black Men Who Have Sex with Men. View the video summarizing the issues related to ethics in public health research. You will respond to Steps 1 and 2 of the 3-Step process by Wednesday and respond to Step 3 by Saturday.
Step 1: Analyze the Ethical Dimensions of the Public Health Issue and Context
There are two public health professionals involved in decision-making in this scenario. Dr. Albert is a social scientist with strong training in conducting research. Dr. Baines is a community worker who focuses on interventions with the community.
Dr. A wants to use this opportunity as a research study that could generate new information that could be generalized to other communities.
Dr. B wants to focus their efforts on intervening in their own community rather than spending time on conduction research.
This intervention would focus on a small subset of their community population, black men who have sex with men. Conducting research would allow them to generalize their findings to a broader population, but would also mean that the subjects in the control group don’t get the intervention. Conducting this education as an intervention would mean focusing on all black men who have sex with men within their community, but the outcomes could not be published as a research study that could benefit other communities and populations.
Respond to these questions on your discussion board:
- As public health professionals, do Dr. Albert and Dr. Baines have ethical obligations to other populations within their community? How about outside the community? Which obligation should be their highest priority, the subset of men who have sex with men, their whole community, or populations outside their community?
- On what basis is the public health agency justified in advancing interventions that target only a subgroup of the community?
Step 2: Formulate Alternative Courses of Action and Evaluate their Ethical Dimensions
- What is the appropriate public health goal in this situation? Providing an intervention that will improve the health of the members of their community, or doing research to create new knowledge that could impact many communities?
- If the educational program is used as a research study, what are the possible benefits and risks to the experimental participants? What are the possible risks and benefits to the control group?
- Based on your answer to the first question, is approval from an IRB necessary?
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Explanation & Answer
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Public Health
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
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Ethical Concerns in Public Health Research
Step 1
Dr. Baines and Dr. Albert have ethical responsibilities to other groups as public
health specialists within and outside their neighborhoods. However, the entire society
should be the primary focus because they have the same features and surroundings as
the subgroup of guys who have sexual affairs with males. It is vital to have a scientific
foundation for health policy. Because research paves the way for insights and
solutions that address health problems, it is essential to population safety worldwide
(Barett et al., 2016). The importance of having a solid framework for performing is
emphasized in the Guidelines of the Ethical Practice of Public Health. Guideline five
encourages public health officials to learn the knowledge they need to implement
effective plans and practices that enhance public health.
There are some ethical limits when it comes to research in public health. The
first is that most ethical research has been centered on medical or scientific purposes,
where the primary contact is between people. Because bioethics focuses on the person,
research ethics frequently overlook broader issues affecting societies and populations,
such as ethical concerns posed by various health care research methodologies
(Dawson et al., 2020). Nevertheless, suppose we start our consideration of public
health studies ethics by looking at health promotion and prevention. In that case, it
becomes clear that acquiring authorization is a procedure that requires more than just
individuals.
We must understand that communities face risks and advantages; that people and
populations may be disadvantaged; so the social, economic, and political context in
which the study is undertaken creates ethical problems (Dawson et al., 2020). With its
emphasis on involvement at the population level, healthcare study has given these
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broader ethical concerns to researchers' awareness, proving how biomedical researchbased ethics guidance can restrict, if not misrepresent, the honest approach needed to
defend human subjects.
The society and population view of public health typically puts ethical problems
into prominence, especially when tackling health problems in resource-poor situations
or minority populations. Research is often conducted beyond the contained way found
in biomedical studies for population health. Instead, studies in this field are frequently
performed in real-life settings within a particular political, social, and economic
environment. Interventions with entire communities suffering from severe public
health situations are possible.
The rules and regulations in public health frequently agree on essential concerns
and teach how to think about ethical dilemmas. On the other hand, consensus papers
can hinder if they are employed naively and with overgeneralized norms followed
blindly(Dawson et al., 2020). Such materials, for example, appear to presume that the
prospective study is the best model of methodological approach, trying to give the
impression that any study method can raise ethical concerns. Furthermore, whether
these standards effectively represent population-oriented ideals and challenges
fundamental to the healthcare system is a point of contention (Barett et al., 2016).
Overdependence on guidance materials, it is feared, favors a legal or conformance set
of ethical principles instead of reflection and evaluation.
Step 2
Backed by scientific facts and in conformity with established principles and
regulations of ethics and morality, public health integrity helps guide appropriate
choices impacting community health. In this approach, ethics in public health relies
on health promotion and ethics fields (Dawson et al., 2020). The complementary roles
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of evidence and beliefs in formulating and defending decisions are becoming
increasingly important in this field. Scientific study regulates and distorts the
experimental situation to identify causality or connection, whereas observation
discloses realities. Data often inform public health initiatives on illness burden,
studies on treatment efficacy, and estimations of the population's medical benefits.
The practical reason for public health measures can often be communicated to the
public through health messaging. However, scientific proof often does not negate or
overwhelm other support or arguments to emotions, beliefs, and ideals in the general
public thinking (Barett et al., 2016). Although public health professionals prioritize
public healt...
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