What Does Patient-Centered Care Demand in Deep Cultural Conflict?”
Wednesday, February 11, 2015, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m., Health Sciences Building, T747
Reception to follow
The recent movement to provide “patient-centered care” has been hailed as a progressive step forward in meeting the needs of the very diverse patient population of the United States. But while the ideal of patient-centered care is universally endorsed, the ethical obligations it entails have only begun to be explored. One of the most difficult circumstances in which to provide patient-centered care is in deep cultural conflict, where the values and priorities of the patient are in direct opposition to those of the clinical team. Given the mandate to provide care that is culturally and linguistically sensitive, what obligations do providers have to meet patient demands when it is inconvenient, challenging, or, at the extreme, offensive and antithetical to clinical values? To answer this question, I employ a strategy of searching for common values that might provide a bridge between patients and providers in deep cultural conflict.
Autumn Fiester, Ph.D., is the Director of Education in the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the Director of the Penn Clinical Ethics Mediation Program and the Co-Director of the Project on Bioethics, Sexuality, and Gender Identity. Her research interests include clinical ethics, mediation, and bioethics education.
For more information contact 206.543.5145 or bhinfo@u.washington.edu To request disability accommodation, contact the Disability Services Office at least ten days in advance at 206.543.6450/V, 206.546.6452/TTY, 206.685.7264/FAX, or email dso@uw.edu.
