Clinical ethics issues in HIV care in Canada: an institutional ethnographic study ...

• Main Authors: Kaposy, Chris, Greenspan, Nicole R, Marshall, Zack, Allison, Jill, Marshall, Shelley, Kitson, Cynthia
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: My University 2017
• Subjects: Canada; Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-18831; https://ruor.uottawa.ca/handle/10393/35823

Abstract Background This is a study involving three HIV clinics in the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, and Manitoba. We sought to identify ethical issues involving health care providers and clinic clients in these settings, and to gain an understanding of how different ethical issues are managed by these groups. Methods We used an institutional ethnographic method to investigate ethical issues in HIV clinics. Our researcher conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews, compiled participant observation notes, and studied health records in order to document ethical issues in the clinics, and to understand how health care providers and clinic clients manage and resolve these issues. Results We found that health care providers and clinic clients have developed work processes for managing ethical issues of various types: conflicts between client-autonomy and public health priorities (“treatment as prevention”), difficulties associated with the criminalization of nondisclosure of HIV positive ...