Bioethical dimensions of cultural psychosomatics: the need for an ethical research approach

Contemporary psychosomatics is a research-based technical discipline and its social power depends on how scientific knowledge is obtained and applied in practice, considering cultural contexts. This article presents the view that the dialogical principles on which bioethical discourse is based are more inclusive than professional ethics and philosophical reflection. The distinction is advanced between rule-guided behavior and norm-justifiable acts (substantiation and justification). The practical implications of good practices in the generation of valid, reliable, generalizable and applicable knowledge are emphasized. For practitioners and researchers, the need to reflect on the distinction between patient and research participant can avoid the therapeutic misunderstanding, a form of abuse of the doctor-patient relationship. In addition, in resource-poor settings, the dilemma presented by the know-do gap (inapplicability of research results due to financial or social constraints) is part of the ethics' realm of the profession. Future prospects include a wider use of research results in practice, but avoidance of the know-do gap (the disparity between what is known and what can be done, particularly in settings with limited resources) requires a synthetic and holistic approach to medical ethics, combining moral reflection, theoretical analysis and empirical data.