Building workforce capacity for ethical reflection in health promotion: a practitioner’s experience
Annabel Axford A and Drew Carter B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Education, University of South Australia, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.
B School of Public Health, Mail Drop DX 650 550, University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: drew.carter@adelaide.edu.au
Health Promotion Journal of Australia 26(3) 222-230 https://doi.org/10.1071/HE15031
Submitted: 30 April 2015 Accepted: 29 October 2015 Published: 23 December 2015
Abstract
Health promotion does not have a code of ethics, although attempts have been made to assist practitioners in their understanding and application of ethical concepts. This article describes and analyses one such attempt, sustained from 2006 to 2014 in rural South Australia. The attempt comprised capacity-building activities that were informed by principles of organisational change management, especially the principle of creating champions. The article also presents a framework (largely comprising ethical questions) that may help practitioners as a prompt and guide to ethical reflection. The framework was developed to be as accessible as possible in light of the diverse educational backgrounds found in rural settings. Finally, the article highlights some philosophical dimensions to the framework and defends its role, proposing that ethical reflection is integral to good practice and never simply the province of theorists. The article does all this with a view to stimulating discussion on how to increase the frequency and quality of ethical reflection undertaken by health promotion practitioners.
Key words: codes of ethics, community health planning, ethical analysis, South Australia.
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