Community bioethics: the health decisions community council

Health care decision making in modern society can pose a variety of complex issues for consideration by individuals, families, and providers. The Health Decisions Community Council (HDCC), a community-based bioethics committee, was established to offer a noninstitutional forum for discussion of difficult health care dilemmas. Social work skills and values for autonomy and self-determination are essential to the formation of the HDCC as a model for community bioethics discussions.