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Lesson 6

We will consider a hypothetical ethical dilemma from the realm of public health and the prevention of infectious diseases. We will analyze the issues, questions, and perspectives inherent in the dilemma and consider how various ethical approaches might view it. We will then individually determine what our decision would be in the face of the dilemma. We will write an explanation of our decision, summarizing how one or more ethical approaches have been influential in our thinking. We might also engage in a classroom discussion or debate about the various decision-making options and their justifications on ethical terms.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I understand the ethical concepts, approaches, and themes related to balancing the common good with individual rights and personal liberty?

  • Can I make connections and comparisons among ethical perspectives and approaches, then apply them to an ethical dilemma in healthcare?

  • Can I formulate and defend a position, decision, and claim in response to an ethical dilemma?

Texts

There are no texts for this Lesson.

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Activity 1: Read – Discuss

As a class, we will discuss the parameters, issues, and questions presented in the hypothetical ethical dilemma regarding a public health decision. In pairs, we will present and compare our initial thoughts about the dilemma and how to go about approaching it.

As a class, read and discuss the hypothetical ethical dilemma we will respond to using the Ethical Dilemma Handout. Pay attention to the parameters, issues, and questions presented in the handout. Discuss the role and situation you will be placed in. Note ways in which both the common good and individual rights or personal liberty are entwined in the dilemma.

Activity 2: Write

We will each develop an initial claim and text-based rationalization for how we might approach and resolve the ethical dilemma.

Based on what you have learned so far in this and other units, what you believe, and what your experiences have taught you, determine what you think your course of action and decisions in response to the dilemma might be. Then, think about how you would use ethical views and approaches to make and support that decision.

Form an evidence-based claim, using ideas from texts you have read in this unit that use ethical thinking to support the position you will take in response to the dilemma. List sources of evidence you might cite under your claim.

Activity 3: Read – Write

To further inform our response to the ethical dilemma, we will use the framework for ethical decision making app to consider the decision from the perspective of the five approaches that organize the decision-making framework.

Use the app to lay out and evaluate your proposed response and decision. Follow through the process facilitated by the app, rating your response in terms of its utility, rights, justice, common good, and virtue. Weight these five approaches based on what you have come to believe is important from your study in this and other units. Note what the app tells you in terms of the calculated value of your response.

Determine if you want to modify your response, try another option, or stick with your response. If you decide to rethink your decision, modify the claim you previously wrote in light of your new thinking.

Activity 4: Write

We will write one to two paragraphs that explain and justify our decisions. In doing so, we will analyze how the dilemma involves consideration of both the common good and personal liberty, then explain how one or more ethical approaches have informed our response to the dilemma.

Once you have determined a final decision about the response and decision you will make, use the claim you developed previously, or the one you modified since, to organize one or two paragraphs explaining your proposed decision, its justification, and how it relates to one or more ethical approaches. Use evidence from texts you read or viewed to explain and support your claim.

Activity 5: Present – Discuss

We will report and discuss our various perspectives and positions in response to the ethical dilemma.

In groups or as a class, present, explain, and justify the decisions you have made individually.

Compare and debate the thinking and ethics behind your decisions.

Activity 6: Read – View – Write

For homework, we will begin to research a question about infectious diseases and vaccines by reading a seed article and viewing an informational video.

Step 1

Read over the Section 1 Diagnostic Checklist.

Your homework for this lesson will have you start to work on this assessment by researching at least two questions for the following lesson. Eventually, you will work with a research team to research one question in-depth and then create a presentation to share your learning with an audience.

Step 2

For homework, access the Informational Research Questions and Sources Handout and determine which of the following questions you will research in the next two lessons:

  1. What are viruses, and where do they come from?

  2. How are infectious diseases transmitted among human populations?

  3. How do we learn about infectious diseases through research?

  4. What is immunity, and how is it developed in humans?

  5. What is herd immunity?

  6. What are vaccines, and how do they work?

  7. Why should we develop and administer vaccines?

  8. How are medicines, such as vaccines, developed, tested, and approved?

  9. How are vaccines added to the US Immunization Schedule and mandated by states?

  10. How might vaccines be used to fight new viruses and pandemic threats?

For your research question, find the Article & Source and the Video & Source access information in the handout. Use the access information to search for the article and video online.

Read the article and watch the video closely, noting in your Learning Log ideas and information you see as key takeaways from these sources in response to your research question. In the next two lessons, you will be working with a research team in your question area and should be prepared to share the takeaways you have identified.