RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The Ethics Liaison Program: building a moral community
JF Journal of Medical Ethics
JO J Med Ethics
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics
SP 595
OP 600
DO 10.1136/medethics-2016-103549
VO 43
IS 9
A1 Sarah R Bates
A1 Wendy J McHugh
A1 Alexander R Carbo
A1 Stephen F O'Neill
A1 Lachlan Forrow
YR 2017
UL http://jme.bmj.com/content/43/9/595.abstract
AB Ethicists often struggle to maintain institution-wide awareness of and commitment to medical ethics. At Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), we created the Ethics Liaison Program to address that challenge by making ethics part of the moral culture of the institution. Liaisons represent clinical and non-clinical areas throughout the medical centre. The liaison has a four-part role: to spread awareness and understanding of Ethics Programs among their coworkers; share information regarding ethical dilemmas in their work area with the members of the Ethics Support Service; review ethics activities and needs within their area; and undertake ethics-related projects. This paper lists the notable attributes of the Ethics Liaison Program, and describes the purpose and structure of the programme, its advantages and the challenges to implementing it. The Ethics Liaison Program has helped to make ethics part of the everyday culture at BIDMC, and other medical centres might benefit from the establishment of similar programmes.