Medical ethics and decision-making (MEDI)
Health care providers and policy makers all over the world are confronted with ethical dilemmas and challenging decision-making in patient care. Our research focus is to explore these dilemmas and decisions, analyze what´s at stake and develop tools, methods, and training strategies to ensure ethically sound decisions and resilient health care providers.
Main content
The team consists of senior researchers, postdocs and PhD-candidates, many with a combined position working as clinicians and/or being involved in teaching of students and health care providers. We meet regularty to present and discuss our research and to have an academic and social meeting place.
Projects
Clinical ethics dilemmas in low resource settings
The overall aim for these PhD-projects is to explore the clinical ethical dilemmas experienced by clinicians working in various specialities, their coping strategies and their suggestions for training and support in order to improve patient care and working conditions.
- Ethical dilemmas of abortion providers and policy makers in Ethiopia. PhD-project by Emily McLean, BCEPS
- Ethical dilemmas and moral resilience among health providers and leaders in trauma care in Malawi. PhD-project by Nina Kleven-Madsen, BCEPS and Department of International Collaboration, Haukeland University Hospital
- Ethical dilemmas and moral distress experienced by providers in neonatal and obstetric care in Ethiopia. Medical student on PhD-track project by Kaya Cetin, BCEPS
- Legal regulations and ethical challenges concerning registration of maternal and perinatal death for health care providers in Ethiopia, PhD- project by Mulu Beyene Kidanemariam, Faculty of Law, University of Bergen and BCEPS
Patient files in Kidongo Chikundo Mental Hospital, Zanzibar.
Priority setting in Norway
The overall aims for these projects is to understand more of the priority setting processes taking place at various levels in the health care system in Norway and to develop strategies and tools to support leaders and clinicians in ensuring fair priorities and legitimate decision-making processes.
- Priorities in practice: examining priority setting in the making of health trust budgets. Postdoc-project by Andrea Melberg, BCEPS
- Priority setting dilemmas and moral distress among Norwegian Physicians, Project Ingrid Miljeteig
- Priority setting, ethical dilemmas and coping mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic among health care providers and clinical leaders in Norway. PI Ingrid Miljeteig, Margrethe Aase Schaufel, Kristine Husøy Onarheim, Emily McLean
Clinical decision making when life is at stake and uncertainty is high
The overall aims for these projects is to explore high-risk and/or complex clinical decision-making and to develop and implement various decision-making support for clinicians.
- Improving shared decision-making and patient trajectories in advanced lung cancer treatment – a multicentre implementation study. PI Margrethe Aase Schaufel, Associate professor in palliative medicine, Consultant at the Department of Thoracic Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital.
- Very elderly patients’ treatment preferences, and participation in shared decision making in the event of acute life-threatening illness. PhD-project by Leonie Gabrielle Schwartz, PhD-candidate and Senior Consultant Anaesthesiologist, Intensive care unit, Department of Surgical Services, Haukeland University Hospital and BCEPS
- Exploring conditions for shared decision-making preceding transcatheter aortic valve implantation in patients with co-morbid dementia, a study of complex clinical and ethical decision-making. Postdoc-project by Elisabeth Skaar, Postdoc and geriatric cardiologist, Department of Cardiology, Haukeland university hospital
- ProPEL: Protocol for patients >= 75 years undergoing emergency lapratomy. PhD-project by Elin Kismul Aakre, PhD-candidate and Senior Consultant Aneaesthesiologist, Department of Surgical Services, Haukeland University Hospital
Capacity building in medical ethics and priority setting among medical students and health care providers
Since 2011 we have collaborated with various institutions to develop and implement teaching in medical ethics among medical students. Through these processes we have also participated in developing teaching material, curriculums, networks and ethical guidelines. Mapping out what ethical dilemmas the students will meet when they start practicing has been a core part of this work and several papers have been published.
- In low-income countries (Ingrid Miljeteig, Dawit Desalegn)
- PhD-project of Dawit Desalegn on effect on selfreported data, patient reported data and observed practice of a short clinical ethics training among gyn/obs residents in Ethiopia.
- In Norway (Ingrid Miljeteig, Margrethe Aase Schaufel)
