Ethics and technological advances: contributions of social work practice

Rapid technological advances in biomedicine have created ethical dilemmas for social workers and other health professionals. This article reviews three areas in which advances have been most dramatic; life support for terminally ill and elderly persons, reproductive technologies and services to severely impaired newborns. It presents principles and processes that can help structure decision making when choices are many and difficult to make. Finally, it suggests ways that social work can use its own technology to help humanize and demystify sophisticated medical technology.