Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 8, 2025
Capturing Representative Hand Use at Home Using Egocentric Video in Individuals with Upper Limb Impairment
Published on: December 23, 2020
Blurred lines: Ethical challenges related to autonomy in home-based care
Cecilie Knagenhjelm Hertzberg1, Anne Kari Tolo Heggestad1, Morten Magelssen1
1University of Oslo.
Background:
Home-based care workers mainly work alone in the patient's home. They encounter a diverse patient population with complex health issues. This inevitably leads to several ethical challenges.
Aim:
The aim is to gain insight into ethical challenges related to patient autonomy in home-based care and how home-based care staff handle such challenges.
Research Design:
The study is based on a 9-month fieldwork, including participant observation and interviews in home-based care. Data were analysed with a thematic analysis approach.
Participants And Research Context:
The study took place within home-based care in three municipalities in Eastern Norway, with six staff members as key informants.
Ethical Considerations:
The Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research evaluated the study. All participants were competent to consent and signed an informed consent form.
Findings:
A main challenge was that staff found it difficult to respect the patient's autonomy while at the same time practicing appropriate care. We found two main themes: Autonomy and risk in tension; and strategies to balance autonomy and risk. These were explicated in four sub-themes: Refusing and resisting care; when choosing to live at home becomes risky; sweet-talking and coaxing; and building trust over time. Staff's threshold for considering the use of coercion appeared to be high.
Conclusions:
Arguably, home-based care staff need improved knowledge of coercion and the legislation regulating it. There is also a need for arenas for ethics reflection and building of competence in balancing ethical values in recurrent ethical problems.
More Related Videos
11:21Methodology for Establishing a Community-Wide Life Laboratory for Capturing Unobtrusive and Continuous Remote Activity and Health Data
Published on: July 27, 2018
08:08Author Spotlight: Capturing Infant-Caregiver Interactions Through Synchronized Multimodal Data Collection
Published on: May 31, 2024
Related Concept Videos
01:17Ethical Dilemmas I
Let us explore some examples to understand the potentially complex moral decisions nurses face.
Take the case of caring for minors, particularly in areas related to reproductive...
01:27Ethical Issues
Ethical Concerns in Healthcare:
01:27Nursing Ethical Principles II
Consider the following scenario, which illustrates how these principles are applied in the care of Mr. John, a fifty-year-old teacher diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer.
Initially, Mr. John's...
01:30Ethical Dilemmas II
01:22Nursing Ethical Principles I
Autonomy
Autonomy underscores the significance of a patient's self-determination and freedom from external control. In healthcare, respecting...
01:29Documentation in Long-Term and Home Healthcare Setting
Long-Term Care Facilities