HLSC220 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Physical Therapy, Health Professional, Ideal Standard
Document Summary
Academics and health professionals have deliberated health care related ethical issues since the early days of medicine, with recent efforts providing more formal ethical standards following the widespread injustice faced during the second world war. Ethics form the foundations of the field of physiotherapy, a science-based profession involving a person-centred approach to promote, maintain, and restore physical, psychological and social states of health. When presented with such dilemmas, ethical principles such as utilitarianism provide a moral compass towards the ideal course of action. Hence, due to the growing complexity of contemporary health care issues in the physiotherapy field, the application of both professional and ethical codes, guided by overarching ethical principles is increasingly necessary to guide professional action. A professional is characterized as an individual able to provide an essential service due to knowledge acquired through formal training. Ongoing self-regulation and professional development is necessary to ensure practitioners maintain this professional competence.
