Professional recommendations: disclosing facts and values
Abstract
It is not unusual for patients and their families, when confronted with difficult medical choices, to ask their physicians for advice. This paper outlines the shades of meaning of two questions frequently put to physicians: “What should I do?” and “What would you do?” It is argued that these are not questions about objective matters of fact. Hence, any response to such questions requires an understanding, appreciation, and disclosure of the personal context and values that inform the recommendation. A framework for considering and articulating a response to these questions is suggested, using as a heuristic the phrasing “If I were you…/If it were me…” Journal of Medical Ethics
Footnotes
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Françoise Baylis, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Departments of Bioethics and Philosophy, Faculties of Medicine and Arts and Social Sciences, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Jocelyn Downie, SJD, is Director of the Health Law Institute and Assistant Professor in the Faculties of Law and Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
