The everyday ethics of field work research with vulnerable patients
Lichtner, V.
Studies in Health Technology and Informatics 205: 813-817
2014
ISSN/ISBN: 1879-8365 PMID: 25160300 Document Number: 675031
Patients are increasingly involved in health informatics research. Researchers are always aware of the ethical dimensions of their research, but studies in the field with patients--especially among the frail, elderly, cognitively impaired--present specific additional 'everyday moral dilemmas'. Reflecting on experiences of a hospital study of patients with dementia, this paper draws attention on the type and constant presence of this situated ethics, the immediacy of decision-making, and the importance of everyday ethics for health informatics.