Ethical Health Promotion
Summary of the Presented Issue
The presented issue by Marquez et al. (2018) is about the diabetes-related disparities among the US Latino populations. The United States has been on the frontline of addressing the issue of healthcare disparities. It is essential to treat all people equally regardless of their ethnicity. However, Latino Americans continue to suffer from diabetes-related problems despite their efforts. According to Marquez et al. (2018), diabetes is one of the major causes of high mortality rates among Latino Populations. Ethics is all about equity.
However, this has not been the case among the Latino population even after the Affordable Care Act was amended. Following the 1988-1994 data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Mexican Americans were more likely to be uninsured or even have public health insurance coverage (Marquez et al., 2018).
This shows an aspect of race and ethnicity and how it has affected quality healthcare delivery to all patients. Following this, most Latino populations do not have access to quality care, making it hard for them to cope with diabetes as it is expensive to treat with no healthcare insurance.
Ethics in healthcare is one of the guiding principles that help in achieving the set goals and objectives. Generally, ethics are the moral principles that govern a person’s behavior. Following this, ethics help define and determine what is right and wrong. Through ethics, one can decide to help them achieve the set goals and objectives. In the health department, ethics are used to manage public health actions.
According to Pauly et al., 2020), ethics in public health provide the relevant principles and core values that guide public health decision-making. Following this, health cannot be promoted without ethical guiding principles. Therefore, it is crucial for healthcare institutions to develop various roles that guide healthcare workers. This includes setting up roles and guidelines to help the workers adhere to the code of conduct.
As a healthcare worker, one is expected to behave in a certain way and deal with issues in a specific manner. The governments should develop proper guidelines to help Latino populations get quality care. This includes ensuring that their health insurance covers and attends all the required clinics.
I think that Healthcare Professionals should play a role in resolving the ethical issue.
Healthcare professionals should be ready to deal with various ethical issues while working. Ensuring that all healthcare workers have the relevant training to deal with work-related ethical problems is essential. One of the ways that ethical issues related to health promotion can be approached is through advocacy. Advocacy in healthcare involves ensuring all people have easy access to healthcare services. Besides, people should be able to access the system quickly to save more lives.
The government is involved in advocacy by providing the necessary resources and addressing various healthcare inequalities. This helps in influencing health policies and creating changes in the healthcare sector. It is also important to address multiple ethical dilemmas in healthcare. This includes dealing with issues like conflicts with caregivers, foregoing life-sustain treatment, and refusing treatment.
The government should develop clear guidelines and educate the public about them. This will help make the right decisions and ensure that the patient and healthcare workers work together to provide quality patient care. I also believe that healthcare workers should be guided on how to deal with moral distress while on duty.
Specific Theories
Utilitarianism is one of the theories that can be used to resolve ethical issues in healthcare. According to Vearrier and Henderson (2021), utilitarianism is the moral theory that mainly focuses on the overall balance of the positive and negative effects of the healthcare professional’s actions. Following this, all the actions are considered based on the consequences rather than focusing based on the character traits of the healthcare worker.
Through utilitarianism theory, healthcare workers aim to ensure moral status equality (Vearrier & Henderson, 2021). Besides, the healthcare workers provide that the patient’s welfare is considered before making any decision. This ensures that healthcare professionals adhere to the ANA code of ethics, like accountability and fidelity (Faubion, 2022). As a result, it is essential for healthcare professionals must consider the consequences of their actions.
The normative theory in healthcare states that values and norms significantly affect healthcare policy reforms. This theory focuses on political and economic explanations and factors involving healthcare. Through this, it becomes easy to develop solutions that help improve healthcare.
The theory also argues that values and norms have a significant role to play in health policy making and reform. Therefore, the approach helps address justice as one of healthcare professionals’ main codes of ethics (Faubion, 2022). All factors are considered adequate steps to ensure everyone has access to quality patient care.
In conclusion, adhering to ethics helps promote healthcare. However, healthcare professionals must understand their moral and ethical roles in healthcare. Through this, they can quickly identify and solve quality patient care delivery issues. All healthcare workers must adhere to the ANA code of conduct. Healthcare institutions achieve their goals and objectives easily and within the stipulated time frame.
References
Faubion, D. (2022). The 9 Nursing Code of Ethics (Provisions + Interpretive Statements) – Every Nurse Must Adhere To. Nursingprocess.org. https://www.nursingprocess.org/nursing-code-of-ethics-and-interpretive-statements.html#:~:text=What%20Are%20The%207%20Ethical,each%20of%20the%20ethical%20principles
Marquez, I., Calman, N., & Crump, C. (2018). A Framework for Addressing Diabetes-Related Disparities in US Latino Populations. Journal of Community Health, 44(2), 412-422. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-018-0574-1
Pauly, B., Revai, T., Marcellus, L., Martin, W., Easton, K., & MacDonald, M. (2020). “The Health Equity Curse”: Ethical Tensions in Promoting Health Equity. BMC Public Health volume, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-76616/v1
Vearrier, L., & Henderson, C. M. (2021). Utilitarian Principlism as a Framework for Crisis Healthcare Ethics. HEC Forum, 33(1-2), 45-60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10730-020-09431-7
Ethical Health Promotion Paper Instructions
Briefly summarize the presented issue.
Describe your thoughts on the role health care professionals should play in resolving the ethical issue.
Provide specific theories and refer to specific ethical codes to support your position.