Clinical Ethics: Methods

Abstract

Since its inception, Clinical Ethics has developed in a great variety of ways. A main line of division between all the methods adopted is between the ones that proposed clinical ethics consultations (CEC) and those that can be classified as moral case deliberation approaches (MCD). The first ones are centered on the patient and consist in helping an ongoing medical decision-making process that raises an ethical issue. The latter are more focused on the healthcare teams. They intend to help them in better dealing with the moral issues they face in their clinical work. Both of them are part of all the sorts of supports and services in Clinical Ethics (CESS) that can be proposed. In this entry, the different methods used for practicing Clinical Ethics will be presented with their main similarities and differences. It will be shown that the choice of method is often due to very local and contextual considerations and that at the end the specific method used matters little, as long as it contributes to a better quality of care for patients and a better awareness of the ethical challenges involved in clinical practice for the healthcare teams.