El principio vulnerabilidad: definición y alcance en el ámbito de la investigación con personas

Abstract

The principle of vulnerability has an ontological and a circumstantial approach, although it is not exempt from criticism. Despite this, historically this principle has been recognized in the different legal and ethical standards that guide research with people. In mental health, due to its peculiarities, it acquires a fundamental role. Methodology: we use a theoretical reflection on the subject, using the relevant and updated bibliography extracted from the Pubmed search engine. The following keywords are used in English: vulnerability, ethics, research, nursing, mental health, using the boolean operator “AND” to detect the underlying ethical problems. On the other hand, we use the terms vulnerability, mental capacity, confidentiality, and research, together with “AND”, for its conceptual analysis. Results: We provide an anthropological and ethical theoretical framework so that the Nursing team can more rigorously understand and justify the issue of vulnerability when researching people with mental health problems. This allows care that is more appropriate to human nature and external conditioning factors. Conclusions: The principle of vulnerability is key in the field of research with people. A respect for the vulnerability when these people are included in the experiments, necessarily goes through making "tailor-made suits" that guarantee adequate protection, which must always be made compatible with free participation and with respect for the privacy and confidentiality of the people. participant people.