Sammendrag
Background There is a lack of empirical research
regarding the outcomes of such clinical ethics support
methods as moral case deliberation (MCD). Empirical
research in how healthcare professionals perceive
potential outcomes is needed in order to evaluate the
value and effectiveness of ethics support; and help to
design future outcomes research. The aim was to use the
European Moral Case Deliberation Outcome Instrument
(Euro-MCD) instrument to examine the importance
of various MCD outcomes, according to healthcare
professionals, prior to participation.
Methods A North European field survey among
healthcare professionals drawn from 73 workplaces in a
variety of healthcare settings in the Netherlands, Norway
and Sweden. The Euro-MCD instrument was used.
Results All outcomes regarding the domains of
moral reflexivity, moral attitude, emotional support,
collaboration, impact at organisational level and concrete
results, were perceived as very or quite important by
76%–97% of the 703 respondents. Outcomes regarding
collaboration and concrete results were perceived as
most important. Outcomes assessed as least important
were mostly about moral attitude. ’Better interactions
with patient/family’ emerged as a new domain from
the qualitative analysis. Dutch respondents perceived
most of the outcomes as significantly less important
than the Scandinavians, especially regarding emotional
support. Furthermore, men, those who were younger, and
physician-respondents scored most of the outcomes as
statistically significantly less important compared with
the other respondents.
Conclusions The findings indicate a need for a broad
instrument such as the Euro-MCD. Outcomes related to
better interactions between professionals and patients
must also be included in the future. The empirical
findings raise the normative question of whether
outcomes that were perceived as less important, such
as moral reflexivity and moral attitude outcomes, should
still be included. In the future, a combination of empirical findings (practice) and normative reflection (theories) will contribute to the revision of the instrument.
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