Medicine and Health Care
Culture, Diversity & Health Disparities in Medicine
Think Cultural Health – A DHHS Office of Minority Health site that aims to provide continuing education to health care providers to bridge the health care gap through continuing education programs. The site links to practical guides, legislaton, and cultural competency information.
National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care (2001) – This report from the Office of Minority Health, DHHS responds to the need to ensure that people entering the health care system receive equitable and effective treatment in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner. These standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) are proposed as a means to correct inequities that currently exist in the provision of health services and to make these services more responsive to the individual needs of all patients/consumers. The standards are intended to be inclusive of all cultures and not limited to any particular population group or sets of groups; however, they are especially designed to address the needs of racial, ethnic, and linguistic population groups that experience unequal access to health services. Ultimately, the aim of the standards is to contribute to the elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities and to improve the health of all Americans.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) Office of Minority Health - This Federal site links to Minority Health Resources and to Reports and Publications posted by the CDC. The links provide data summaries, describe initiatives and make reports available. The ethical issues are implicit rather than explicitly addressed in most of the material.
Cultural Competency: National Center for Cultural Competence (NCCC) is a program is a component of the Georgetown University Child Development Center, Center for Child Health and Mental Health Policy, and is housed within the Department of Pediatrics of the Georgetown University Medical Center. The mission of the NCCC is to increase the capacity of health care programs to design, implement and evaluate culturally competent service delivery systems.
Cross Cultural Resources – These primary care clinical practice guidelines from the University of California, San Francisco cover transcultural, multicultural and cultural competency. They link to guidelines, articles, books, and to multi-lingual translated resources
Cross-Cultural Issues and Diverse Beliefs - The University of Washington School of Medicine maintains an Ethics in Medicine site. A feature of the site is Cross-Cultural Issues and Diverse Beliefs with an Emphasis in Pediatrics. The site lists a number of bioethics topics, with special emphasis on pediatrics and on populations located in the Northwest. A short bibliography on cross cultural issues is included.
Health Disparities Literature (2004) – A bibliography compiled from literature cited in the 2003 Institute of Medicine report Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care and the DHHS National Health Disparities Report (2003). Although the literature cited not does explicitly focus on ethical issues, they are implicit.
Race, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism – This site developed and maintained by Lawrence M. Hinman, University of San Diego, links to many resources and to an annotated bibliography on race, gender and affirmative action. There also are links to court cases, radio programs, videos, slide presentations and to scholarly literature.
The Minority Health Archive – The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health maintains this archive of outreach references for research and practice. The site links to policy papers, reports and journal articles.
A Review of Improved Ethical Practices in Environmental and Public Health Research: Case Examples from Native Communities (2006) - This article presents a review of case studies and articles of research ethics issues in the conduct of environmental and public health research with Native American and other indigenous populations. Current guidelines focus on individual rights for human subjects rather than on community rights in research. The compilation of guidelines offer tested field methods for improving the ethical conduct of research with native community populations.
Research Ethics for Mental Health Science Involving
Ethnic Minority Children and Youths (2002) - In response to U.S. Public Health Service projects promoting attention to disparities in the outcomes of mental health treatments, the American Psychological Association, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Fordham University Center for Ethics Education convened
a group of leaders in bioethics, multicultural research, and ethnic minority mental health to produce a document to guide ethical decision making for mental health research involving ethnic minority children and youths. This report summarizes its recommendations.
Organization for Islamic Learning: Issues in Islamic Medical Ethics - This site provides generally agreed upon guidelines in matters of medical practice and bioethics in accord with the five schools of Islamic Religious Law
Cultural Competence and Health Care Disparities: Key Perspectives and Trends (2002) – An interview study with experts in cultural competence to collect information about activties to improve cultural competence in health care.
Public Health Ethics
Public Health Ethics – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is concerned with public health ethics as a field of study and as a field of practice. As a field of study, public health ethics seeks to understand and clarify principles and values that guide public health actions. Because public health actions are often undertaken by governments and are directed at the population level, the principles and values which guide public health can differ from those which guide actions in biology and clinical medicine (bioethics and medical ethics) which are more patient or individual-centered. CDC has two public health ethics committees: one guides agency operations and the other is a subcommittee of the Director’s Advisory Committee.
Ethics and Public Health Model Curriculum (2003) – This project, by the Association of Schools of Public Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and The Hastings Center, is intended as a resource to enhance and encourage discussions of ethical issues in the field of public health. Each topical module presents an issue essay, fact sheet, case study, case analysis, tools for assessment, and a reading list.
Ethical Guidelines in Pandemic Influenza (2007) – This CDC site provides guidance for ethical decision making for pandemic influenza.
Consultation on Ethics and Equitable Access to Treatment and Care for HIV/AIDS (2004) – A summary of a WHO meeting produced this document on ethical guidance on anti-retroviral treatment for AIDS. Another WHO document on treatment guidance for HIV/AIDS was published the same year Guidance on Ethics and Equitable Access to HIV/AIDS Treatment and Care
American J. of Public Health Collections: Ethics – Public health ethics articles published in the Journal in recent years. Link to abstracts free of charge.
An Ethics Framework for Public Health (2001) – An article by Nancy Kass that reviews the history of contemporary bioethics and presents a framework for public health interventions, policy, research and programs.
Public Health Ethics – This University of Washington School of Medicine site offers case studies in public health ethics as a teaching tool for physicians and medical students.
The Virtual Library - Public Health – This University of New South Wales, Australia site organizes information by geography and by topic. It links to data resources and to policies, reports, and selected articles.
Ethical Issues in Epidemiological Research and Public Health Practice (2006) – This article by Steven S. Coughlin provides an overview of ethical issues in epidemiologic research and public health. It highlights topics in public health ethics and posits that attention to ethical issues can facilitate the planning, implementation, and growth of public health programs and research activities.
Public Health: Ethical Issues (2007) – This report by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics addresses the responsibilities of government, industry, individuals and others in promoting the public’s health. A ‘stewardship model’, which outlines how this can be achieved, is proposed. The report considers the acceptability of different public health measures, and highlights the responsibilities of industries that promote products that affect health.
Recommendations for policy are made in four areas: infectious disease, obesity, alcohol and tobacco and fluoridation of water.
Public Health: Ethical Issues (2007) – This report by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics addresses the responsibilities of government, industry, individuals and others in promoting the public’s health. A ‘stewardship model’, which outlines how this can be achieved, is proposed. The report considers the acceptability of different public health measures, and highlights the responsibilities of industries that promote products that affect health.
Recommendations for policy are made in four areas: infectious disease, obesity, alcohol and tobacco and fluoridation of water.
