Applying bioethics knowledge in practice
The world of health and health care is complex and rapidly changing. Advances in the health sciences may mean significant benefits to current and future patients, but also pose new ethical questions. For example, genetic screening is a powerful technology that has the potential to tailor treatment to a patient’s unique genetic make-up but raises ethical questions about who should have access to this genetic information and whether screening should even be offered if no treatment is currently available.
Hospitals are under increasing pressure to make efficient use of their resources to meet patient needs, but for many health professionals, the drive for efficiency seems to come at the cost of their professional duties to provide high quality care. In a global context, many ethical issues related to health transcend national boundaries. For instance, the recent COVID-19 global pandemic raised important questions about priority setting, resource allocation, access to treatment for vulnerable populations, public health and surveillance, sharing patient health data, and many more. Is it any wonder that demand for bioethics expertise—from health policymakers, health professionals, health researchers, and increasingly, the public—is growing?
At the JCB, we are committed to the application of bioethics knowledge in practice.
Introducing the Bioethics Design Lab
We are not just involved in research and education but committed to helping strengthen and improve health systems locally and globally. We are contributing towards ethically grounded solutions to today’s wicked health problems, and as such we are developing the Bioethics Design Lab. The Lab will function as a mechanism for translating bioethics knowledge into health research, policy and practice. The Lab’s aim will be to design meaningful knowledge application strategies, inspired by design thinking, that more effectively embed ethical processes into health care and public health. We can’t say more yet, but stay tuned for the launch!