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Related Experiment Videos

What should we say?

J Savulescu1, B Foddy, J Rogers

  • 1Ethics Unit, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Childrens Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia.

Journal of Medical Ethics
|December 24, 2005
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Communicating compassionately during illness is complex. Sometimes, saying hurtful things may be ethically justified to provide long-term support and well-being for a loved one facing serious health challenges.

Area of Science:

  • Medical Ethics
  • Communication Studies
  • Philosophy of Language

Background:

  • Speech acts significantly impact individuals, especially during times of illness or injury.
  • The duty of beneficence mandates supportive communication, yet well-intentioned words can inadvertently cause distress.
  • Existing strategies for comforting the ill are imperfect, often leading to perceived insensitivity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the complexities and ethical considerations of speech acts in compassionate communication with ill individuals.
  • To identify reasons why well-meaning speech can be hurtful or harmful.
  • To provide an ethical framework for justifying potentially painful but necessary communication.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of personal accounts of compassionate speech during illness.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Examination of clinical evidence related to patient communication.
  • Ethical reasoning and philosophical defense of specific speech acts.

    • Main Results:

    • Well-intentioned communication can lead to negative emotional outcomes for patients.
    • Certain 'wrong' or hurtful statements may serve a beneficial long-term purpose.
    • Ethical justifications exist for speech acts that are difficult to hear but necessary.

    Conclusions:

    • Effective compassionate communication requires careful consideration of ethical justifications for speech acts.
    • Moral considerations may sometimes override immediate patient comfort for long-term benefit.
    • An ethical account is provided to guide permissible and impermissible justifications in communication with the seriously ill.