32 research outputs found
A poststructural rethinking of the ethics of technology in relation to the provision of palliative home care by district nurses
Technology and its interfaces with nursing care, patients and carers, and the home are many and varied. To date, healthcare services research has generally focussed on pragmatic issues such access to and the optimization of technology, while philosophical inquiry has tended to focus on the ethics of how technology makes the home more hospital like. However, the ethical implications of the ways in which technology shapes the subjectivities of patients and carers have not been explored. In order to explore this, poststructural theory, in particular the work of Butler, Foucault, and Deleuze, is used to theorize the relationship between subjectivity and materiality as ethically mandated on producing rather than precluding the development of subjectivities in novel ways. This theoretical understanding is then utilized through a process of âplugged inâ as described by Jackson and Massie that aims to link empirical data, research, and philosophical inquiry. Through this process, it is suggested that power, which the empirical data demonstrate, is frequently exercised through medical discourses and restricts patients' and carers' ability to shape the material environment of the home as a place to live and be cared for in palliative stages of illness. Alternative discourses are suggested both from the empirical data as well as other research, which may offer patients and carers the possibility of reclaiming power over the home and their subjectivities. Finally, the dichotomy between the home and hospital, mediated via technology, is posited as being problematic. It is argued the dichotomy is false and should be moved away from in order to allow an ethical embrace of technology in palliative car
Quality care as ethical care:a poststructural analysis of palliative and supportive district nursing care
Quality of care is a prominent discourse in modern health-care and has previously been conceptualised in terms of ethics. In addition, the role of knowledge has been suggested as being particularly influential with regard to the nurseâpatientâcarer relationship. However, to date, no analyses have examined how knowledge (as an ethical concept) impinges on quality of care. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 patients with palliative and supportive care needs receiving district nursing care and thirteen of their lay carers. Poststructural discourse analysis techniques were utilised to take an ethical perspective on the current way in which quality of care is assessed and produced in health-care. It is argued that if quality of care is to be achieved, patients and carers need to be able to redistribute and redevelop the knowledge of their services in a collaborative way that goes beyond the current ways of working. Theoretical works and extant research are then used to produce tentative suggestions about how this may be achieved
Collaboratively setting the priorities for health and social care research for older lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans* people
This paper reports on a novel approach to setting research priorities relevant to the needs of older LGBT people. Research is growing in this area and has recognised the negative impact of contemporary and historical discrimination towards non-normative genders and sexualities. The results of a symposium, survey and agreement analysis are presented to identify the levels of priority placed on sixty different research topics. Discussion focuses on the novelty and/or similarity to existing research patterns on LGBT ageing, as well as prioritising topics such as: how to include unheard voices; exploring trans* peopleâs experiences and preferences around long-term hormone use; and, embedding research findings into policy and practice
Enacting care amid power relations : The role of âveiled careâ in organisational life
Traditional understandings of care-giving assume care practices are clear to others and unambiguously altruistic, reflective of the selfless and humane bearing of care professionals. However, a range of organisational research has noted the complex and often contradictory ways in which enactments of care are interwoven into organisational relations of power and control. Through a narrative analysis of interview data, our paper focuses upon practices of inaction and concealment as âveiledâ care set within the power-laden complexities and contested meaning-making of organisational life. Our notion of veiled care extends debates about care as a social practice in everyday work relations in two ways. Firstly, it provides a greater focus on the less discernible aspects of care-giving which are significant but possibly overlooked in shaping subjectivities and meanings of care in work relations. Secondly, it develops the discussion of the situated ambiguities and tensions in enacting care that involves overcoming care-recipient resistance and an arguably less heroic but nonetheless important objective of non-maleficence, to avoid, minimise or repair damage
Dating Apps as Health Allies? Examining the Opportunities and Challenges of dating apps as partner in public health
In recent years, dating apps have become important allies in public health. In this paper, we explore the implications of partnering with dating apps for public health. We consider the opportunities and challenges inherent in these collaborations, paying special attention to privacy, trust, and user care in a digital environment.Despite their potential as targeted public health tools, dating apps raise significant ethical concerns, including the commodification of user data and privacy breaches, which highlight the complexities of blending healthcare initiatives with for-profit digital platforms. Furthermore, the paper delves into issues of discrimination, harassment, and unequal access within these apps, factors which can undermine public health efforts.We develop a nuanced critical reflexive approach, emphasizing the development of transparent data policies, the decoupling of content moderation from health initiatives, and a commitment to combat discrimination. We underscore the importance of embedding app-based health initiatives within broader care pathways, ensuring comprehensive support beyond the digital domain. This essay offers vital insights for public health practitioners, app developers, and policymakers navigating the intersection of digital innovation and healthcare
Is monkeypox an STI? The societal aspects and healthcare implications of a key question
This letter explores the societal aspects and healthcare implications that underlie thinking about monkeypox, in the 2022 outbreak, as a sexually transmitted infection (STI). The authors examine what underlies this question, exploring what is an STI, what is sex, and what is the role of stigma in sexual health promotion. The authors argue that, in this specific outbreak, monkeypox is an STI among men who have sex with men (MSM). The authors highlight the need of critically thinking about how to communicate effectively, the role of homophobia and other inequalities, and the importance of the social sciences
Responding to Mpox::Communities, Communication, and Infrastructures
The 2022 Mpox outbreak saw community organisations and sexual health services rise to the challenge of rapidly responding to a public health emergency. Nevertheless, the experience showed that successfully responding to an outbreak is often dependent on preparedness, planning, and existing infrastructure, and success in future outbreaks and scenarios may depend on this work being undertaken now. This report sets out key findings about the successes and challenges in the response to Mpox in the UK and internationally and makes research based policy recommendations for future similar contexts
What can queers teach us about nursing ethics?
This chapter explores what queerness and its specific sub-cultural history can teach healthcare professionals about an ethics of care that extends beyond how to treat LGBT+ people, and instead teaches us about how our ethics of care can be critiqued from a queer perspective. In doing so, it argues that rather than limiting our thinking to the ethical treatment of LGBT+ people with regard to the specific issues that they face, we should instead think about what a queer critique of care may mean more widely for our approach to the ethics of care. In order to do this, Maurice Nagington takes inspiration at least in part from Wardâs argument in The Tragedy of Heterosexuality that queer people can act as critical allies to the prevailing normative culture with regard to engaging in ethical relationships. This chapter uses this inspiring inversion to argue that no longer should we think about the ethical problems that LGBT+ may face, but instead ask what LGBT+ peopleâs radically different sub-cultural history and experiences of care structures can teach about the ethics of care. Maurice Nagington terms this a âqueer ethics of careâ