Attendance: 14

 

 

 

 

Speaker: Rochelle Maurice, Was introduced by President Danny

 

Rochelle Maurice is a Clinical and Organizational Ethicist currently working at Scarborough Health Network.  She attained her Master in Health Sciences in Bioethics at the University of Toronto in 2016. Subsequently, She completed a Fellowship in Clinical and Organizational Ethics with the Centre for Clinical Ethics.  Her professional background in Social Work shaped Rochelle’s work in ethics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Centre for Clinical Ethics (CCE) was established in 1982 to oversee the ethics needs of St. Joseph's Health Centre, St. Michael’s Hospital, and Providence Health Care.  CCE also provides ethics services to over 12 health care institutions across GTHA.

 

Clinical ethics is the study of “right”, “wrong”, and the grey areas in between.

 

The fundamental role of an ethicist is to help patients, substitute decision-makers, family members, and healthcare workers think through the ethical aspects of their work, clarify reasons for their decisions on ethical issues, and arrive at ethically justified decisions.

 

Some common issues in ethics consultation include:

- Issues related to consent and capacity (e.g. refusing or foregoing treatment, choosing to live at risk)

- Advance care planning (e.g., what kinds of things should you communicate to healthcare providers and your loved ones, what you should know about making decisions on someone else’s behalf)

- Truth-telling (e.g., is it ever justifiable to withhold or be deceptive about a life-altering diagnosis? Is it ever justifiable to be deceptive with people who have dementia diagnoses?

- Confidentiality and privacy (e.g. when is it justifiable to provide medical updates about a loved one to friends and family?

- Suspected abuse and duties to report (e.g. when there is suspicion of elder abuse for a person with a dementia diagnosis, who should be contacted?

 

Rochelle’s presentation was dynamic and very informative.  She took several questions from the group, and at the end of her presentation, she was celebrated and thanked by Basil