Enhancement, ethics and society: towards an empirical research agenda for the medical humanities and social sciences

For some time now, bioethicists have paid close attention to issues associated with ‘enhancement’; specifically, the appropriate use and regulation of substances and artefacts understood by some to improve the functioning of human bodies beyond that associated with ‘normal’ function. Medical humanities scholars (aside from philosophers and lawyers) and social scientists have not been frequent participants in debates around enhancement, but could shine a bright light on the range of dilemmas and opportunities techniques of enhancement are purported to introduce. In this paper, we argue that empirical research into the notion and practice of enhancement is necessary and timely. Such work could fruitfully engage with—and further develop—existing conceptual repertoires within the medical humanities and social sciences in ways that would afford benefit to scholars in those disciplines. We maintain that empirical engagements could also provide important resources to bioethicists seeking to regulate new enhancements in ways that are sensitive to societal context and cultural difference. To this end, we outline an empirical agenda for the medical humanities and social sciences around enhancement, emphasising especially how science and technology studies could bring benefits to—and be benefitted by—research in this area. We also use the example of (pharmaceutical) cognitive enhancement to show how empirical studies of actual and likely enhancement practices can nuance resonant bioethical debates

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: Stressors, Social Support, and Health Outcomes

The major purpose of this study was to identify predictors of grandparent caregiver health status. Additional purposes were to describe the physical and emotional health of grandparent caregivers and the perceived benefits of support group attendance. A convenience sample of 42 grandparents was recruited from support groups. Data were collected through telephone interviews. Grandparents who had higher parenting stress reported lower levels of physical, social, and mental health. Inverse correlations were present between life stress and mental health. Positive correlations were found between social support and physical health. No pattern emerged in a comparison of the health of care-giving grandparents and a normative sample. Emotional support was the primary benefit derived from support group attendance. There were modest inverse associations between the length of time the child had lived with the grandparent and six of the eight indicators of grandparent health