Questions of ethics lie at the heart of government responses to Covid-19, professional reactions and citizens’ behaviour. Such questions include: Do we value health or the economy? Who gets the protective equipment, ventilators or food vouchers? Is combatting loneliness worth the risk of spreading or contracting the virus? During May 2020, a group of academics in partnership with the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) launched a qualitative survey, asking for details of the ethical challenges faced by social workers during Covid-19. We identified six main themes: Creating and maintaining trusting, honest and empathic relationships via phone or internet with due regard to privacy and confidentiality, or in person with protective equipment. Prioritising service user needs and demands, which are greater and different due to the pandemic, when resources are stretched/unavailable and full assessments often impossible. Balancing service user rights, needs and risks against personal risk to social workers and others, in order to provide services as well as possible. Deciding whether to follow national and organisational policies, procedures or guidance (existing or new) or to use professional discretion in circumstances where the policies seem inappropriate, confused or lacking. Acknowledging and handling emotions, fatigue and the need for self-care, when working in unsafe and stressful circumstances. Using the lessons learned from working during the pandemic to rethink social work in the future.
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The guidance offered here is intended to assist social workers in thinking through the specific ethical challenges that arise whilst practising during a pandemic or other type of crisis. In crisis conditions, people who need social work services, and social workers themselves, face increased and unusual risks. These challenging conditions are further compounded by scarce or reallocated governmental and social resources. While the ethical principles underpinning social work remain unchanged by crises, unique and evolving circumstances may demand that they be prioritised differently. A decision or action that might be regarded as ethically wrong in ‘normal’ times, may be judged to be right in a time of crisis. Examples include: prioritising individual and public health considerations by restricting people’s freedom of movement; not consulting people about treatment and services; or avoiding face-to-face meetings.
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Aim: Midwives are expected to identify and help resolve ethics problems that arise in practice, skills that are presumed to be taught in midwifery educational programs. In this study, we explore how midwives recognize ethical dilemmas in clinical practice and examine the sources of their ethics education. Methods: We conducted semi-structured, individual interviews with midwives from throughout the United States (U.S.) (n = 15). Transcripts of the interviews were analysed using an iterative process to identify themes and subthemes. Findings: Midwives described a range of professional ethical dilemmas, including challenges related to negotiating strained interprofessional relationships and protecting or promoting autonomy for women. Ethical dilemmas were identified by the theme of unease, a sense of distress that was expressed in three subthemes: uncertainty of action, compromise in action, and reflecting on action. Learning about ethics and ethical dilemmas occurred, for the most part, outside of the classroom, with the majority of participants reporting that their midwifery program did not confer the skills to identify and resolve ethical challenges. Conclusion: Midwives in this study reported a range of ethical challenges and minimal classroom education related to ethics. Midwifery educators should consider the purposeful and explicit inclusion of midwifery-specific ethics content in their curricula and in interprofessional ethics education. Reflection and self-awareness of bias were identified as key components of understanding ethical frameworks. As clinical preceptors were identified as a key source of ethics learning, midwifery educators should consider ways to support preceptors in building their skills as role models and ethics educators.
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One of the authors of this research report participated in an international survey which provided insight into the ethical challenges that social workers faced during the covid-19 pandemic. However, this study did not show the prevalence of the challenges described. Were they widespread, or was it more a matter of individual cases? We conducted an additional survey among Dutch social professionals to shed more light on this matter, seeking an answer to our main question: what is the nature and extent of the ethical burden on social professionals in the Netherlands during the first phase of the covid-19 pandemic?
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This document presents the findings of a study into methods that can help counterterrorism professionals make decisions about ethical problems. The study was commissioned by the Research and Documentation Centre (Wetenschappelijk Onderzoeken Documentatiecentrum, WODC) of the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice (Ministerie van Veiligheid en Justitie), on behalf of the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (Nationaal Coördinator Terrorismebestrijding en Veiligheid,NCTV). The research team at RAND Europe was complemented by applied ethics expert Anke van Gorp from the Research Centre for Social Innovation (Kenniscentrum Sociale Innovatie) at Hogeschool Utrecht. The study provides an inventory of methods to support ethical decision-making in counterterrorism, drawing on the experience of other public sectors – healthcare, social work, policing and intelligence – and multiple countries, primarily the Netherlands and the United Kingdom
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Since 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on personal, social and societal life worldwide. The virus threatens the physical health, social contacts and financial and economic security of many. The pandemic has led to polarisation in society, to an increase in social inequality, to a threat to democratic rights and to international tensions. Social work has not been left unaffected either. Based on research conducted by the Centre for Social Innovation of HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht Netherlands and financed by ZonMw, a concise ethical manual was developed for social professionals in crisis situations. It contains a series of questions for reflection that can be used to make the most important ethical challenges explicit and to take action. The guide is also suitable for carrying out a brief ethical review, as it were, individually or collectively, in the hectic day-to-day work.
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This paper argues online privacy controls are based on a transactional model of privacy, leading to a collective myth of consensual data practices. It proposes an alternative based on the notion of privacy coordination as an alternative vision and realizing this vision as a grand challenge in Ethical UX
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This article draws on findings of an international study of social workers’ ethical challenges during COVID-19, based on 607 responses to a qualitative survey. Ethical challenges included the following: maintaining trust, privacy, dignity and service user autonomy in remote relationships; allocating limited resources; balancing rights and needs of different parties; deciding whether to break or bend policies in the interests of service users; and handling emotions and ensuring care of self and colleagues. The article considers regional contrasts, the ‘ethical logistics’ of complex decision-making, the impact of societal inequities, and lessons for social workers and professional practice around the globe.
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This report summarises the findings of an international study of the ethical challenges faced by social workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, undertaken during 6th-18th May 2020. 607 responses from 54 countries were received via an online survey, additional interviews and local surveys. Six key themes relating to social workers’ ethical challenges and responses were identified: 1. Creating and maintaining trusting, honest and empathic relationships via phone or internet with due regard to privacy and confidentiality, or in person with protective equipment. 2. Prioritising service user needs and demands, which are greater and different due to the pandemic, when resources are stretched or unavailable and full assessments often impossible. 3. Balancing service user rights, needs and risks against personal risk to social workers and others, in order to provide services as well as possible. 4. Deciding whether to follow national and organisational policies, procedures or guidance (existing or new) or to use professional discretion in circumstances where the policies seem inappropriate, confused or lacking. 5. Acknowledging and handling emotions, fatigue and the need for selfcare, when working in unsafe and stressful circumstances. 6. Using the lessons learned from working during the pandemic to rethink social work in the future.
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Parental involvement is a crucial force in children’s development, learning and success at school and in life [1]. Participation, defined by the World Health Organization as ‘a person’s involvement in life situations’ [2] for children means involvement in everyday activities, such as recreational, leisure, school and household activities [3]. Several authors use the term social participation emphasising the importance of engagement in social situations [4, 5]. Children’s participation in daily life is vital for healthy development, social and physical competencies, social-emotional well-being, sense of meaning and purpose in life [6]. Through participation in different social contexts, children gather the knowledge and skills needed to interact, play, work, and live with other people [4, 7, 8]. Unfortunately, research shows that children with a physical disability are at risk of lower participation in everyday activities [9]; they participate less frequently in almost all activities compared with children without physical disabilities [10, 11], have fewer friends and often feel socially isolated [12-14]. Parents, in particular, positively influence the participation of their children with a physical disability at school, at home and in the community [15]. They undertake many actions to improve their child’s participation in daily life [15, 16]. However, little information is available about what parents of children with a physical disability do to enable their child’s participation, what they come across and what kind of needs they have. The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate parents’ actions, challenges, and needs while enhancing the participation of their school-aged child with a physical disability. In order to achieve this aim, two steps have been made. In the first step, the literature has been examined to explore the topic of this thesis (actions, challenges and needs) and to clarify definitions for the concepts of participation and social participation. Second, for the purposes of giving breadth and depth of understanding of the topic of this thesis a mixed methods approach using three different empirical research methods [17-19], was applied to gather information from parents regarding their actions, challenges and needs.
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