Ethics, catholic

BACKGROUND: In a constantly changing and increasingly globalized world, religion and cultural practices still play a significant role in influencing people's behaviour towards assisted reproductive technologies. PURPOSE: This study examined the religious, cultural and personal interpretations of artificial insemination. METHODS: The research methodology was triangulated using qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. A stratified and simple random sampling technique was used to select the study participants for quantitative data, while, Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) respondents were purposively sampled...

This study aims to compare the mastery of competencies in assisting the LGBT+ population of Brazilian health professionals. Data collection occurred in a face-to-face and virtual manner, in the first semester of 2018. The health professionals answered a socio-demographic and functional questionnaire, in addition to the questionnaire Measurement of Training Needs for Health Care for the LGBT+ Public. The data was analyzed using Mann-Whitney and Chi-square tests. The project research was submitted to and approved by the IMED Research Ethics Committee (CAAE 69116917...

BACKGROUND: Malaria and HIV, 2 of the world's deadliest diseases, share a lot of territory in sub-Saharan Africa. OBJECTIVE: This study seeks to investigate the effect of HIV on the immune response to malaria infection among pregnant women in Kumba in the southwest region (SWR) of Cameroon. The study aims to determine the prevalence of malaria infection, assess the occurrence of Plasmodium falciparum genetic diversity, and evaluate the antibody (immunoglobulin [Ig]G and IgM: apical membrane antigen-1 [AMA1], merozoite surface protein [MSP]1, MSP2, MSP3, and erythrocyte-binding antigen [EBA]175) and cytokine (interleukin [IL]-10, tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α], and interferon gamma [IFNγ]) response to malaria infection among pregnant women with and without HIV in Kumba...

INTRODUCTION: Systems science methodologies have been used in attempts to address the complex and dynamic causes of childhood obesity with varied results. This paper presents a protocol for the Reflexive Evidence and Systems interventions to Prevention Obesity and Non-communicable Disease (RESPOND) trial. RESPOND represents a significant advance on previous approaches by identifying and operationalising a clear systems methodology and building skills and knowledge in the design and implementation of this approach among community stakeholders...

This article is a case study illuminating the experience of a cradle Catholic who pursued a career in the field of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) as a laboratory director and embryologist. Twenty years after leaving the field, the observations leading to the crisis of conscience are further amplified by the reports of social, legal, ethical, and medical consequences of the technology. These consequences are explored in detail and can serve as a mini-review of the published scientific literature describing the obstetrical complications, peri-natal outcomes, and the long-term health effects on the offspring...

Humanae Vitae taught that sexual relations must respect both the procreative and unitive meanings of the marital act. Most Catholic ethical analysis of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) has focused on whether the procedure assists or replaces the conjugal act. This paper proposes that such an approach is missing an essential element-namely, whether the procedure respects the unitive meaning of the conjugal act. Pope John Paul II's "theology of the body" provides principles for understanding the unitive meaning...

For those of reproductive age, the decision to marry in the Catholic Church is one that expresses the desire for a fruitful married life. The teachings of the Catholic Magisterium provide a substantial and constructive dialogue about marital fruitfulness as it relates to the bearing and raising of children but a more adequate theological and pastoral response is needed for Catholic couples who remain childless after exhausting morally upright medical procedures for assisting reproduction. This commentary provides a critical appraisal of the documents of the Magisterium dating from the 1917 Pio-Benedictine Code of Canon Law through to the present...

Disability rights advocates have traditionally denigrated charity as politically counterproductive and inherently demeaning. This article argues that this perspective mischaracterizes charity of a religious kind. Religious charity, I argue, must be understood immanently, through an exploration of the virtues cultivated in particular religious organizations. I consider two Catholic charities: L'Arche, a community for intellectually disabled people, and the end-of-life care facility Our Lady of Perpetual Help Home...

AIM: To investigate the interplay between moral distress and moral injury among nurses working in palliative and oncology wards and to assess its impact on nursing leadership. BACKGROUND: The past two years have been particularly challenging for nurses and nursing leaders in Croatia. The coronavirus disease pandemic and the subsequent earthquakes in the country significantly impacted the work of nurses. Moral distress has been well-known to nursing professionals, but recent studies warn about cofounding it with moral injury and their possible intercorrelation, deserving more attention from an empirical perspective...

Background: While employers are increasingly considering and implementing COVID-19 vaccination requirements, little is known about the reasons offered by employees seeking religious exemptions. Methods: We conducted a mixed methods analysis of all the requests for religious exemptions submitted during the initial implementation of a COVID-19 vaccination requirement at a single academic medical center in the United States. Results: Five hundred sixty-five (3.4%) employees requested religious exemptions. At least 305 (54...

IntroductionMulticomponent school-based physical activity (PA) interventions can improve students' cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and PA. Due to the complex nature of such interventions when delivered at scale their effect sizes markedly reduce. Modifying student school uniforms, so that they are more PA enabling, may be a simple intervention that could enhance student health. The primary aim of this trial is to assess the effectiveness of an activity enabling uniform intervention (shorts, polo shirt and sports shoes) in improving children's CRF...

In the article "An Argument for Standardized Ethical Directives for Secular Healthcare Services," Abram L. Brummett and Jamie C. Watson argue that, parallel to the directives of the Roman Catholic Church, secular healthcare ethics consultants (HECs) need substantive standardized ethical guidelines (what they call SEGs) that would constitute a best practice across all HECs in the U.S. Brummett and Watson believe that the absence of such directives constitutes an important deficit in clinical ethics consultation (CEC) that needs to be rectified in order for consultation to achieve the professionalism and universality necessary for legitimacy...

We argue that the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities has endorsed a facilitation approach to clinical ethics consultation that asserts that bioethicists can offer moral recommendations that are well-grounded in bioethical consensus. We claim that the closest thing the field currently has to a citable, nationally endorsed bioethical consensus are the 22 Core References used to construct the questions for the Healthcare Ethics Consultant-Certified (HEC-C) exam. We acknowledge that the Core References reflect some important points of bioethical consensus, but note they are unwieldy, repetitive, and sometimes inconsistent on important issues faced by clinical ethicists...

The FANTASTIC questionnaire is a scientific instrument that can be used by health professionals for quickly and effectively measuring the quality of life and lifestyle of people. It is a simple questionnaire that measures different dimensions including nutritional status, but the possibility of using it as a resource for studies in the nutritional field (regardless of its correlation with this) has never been considered, nor has it been used for studies in university populations. The aim was to validate the FANTASTIC questionnaire to report on the participant's lifestyle in a Spanish university population by using a cross-sectional study...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Health Care Chaplains, whose primary role is to provide spiritual care to patients, their families, and medical staff, are sometimes asked for help in making difficult decisions and resolving conflicts. Their help is justified especially when religious beliefs and values constitute the root of the problem. The study aims to analyze the phenomenon of asking hospital and hospice chaplains in Poland to take on the role of mediators in conflicts concerning methods of patients' medical care...

Editor's Note: As Catholic ethics increasingly diverge from those of other religious traditions and from secular principles, it is important to explore how-if at all-Catholic physicians and institutions can work with those whose view of life and faith are very different. This article presents not only an historical vision of how the Ethical and Religious Directives came to be, it raises questions about just how Catholics go about moral reasoning when there are competing interests and principles at play. The author of the article, Warren T...

The sixth edition of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (ERDs) provides ethical guidance for Catholic healthcare professionals and institutions for many moral issues. Presented here is a brief discussion of the main points contained in Part Five, which covers issues in care for the seriously ill and dying patient, and includes a focus on the challenges of promoting the essence of these Directives -without using religious arguments-to a secularized culture clamoring for physician-assisted suicide (PAS)...

As a Catholic healthcare organization, Covenant Health and the Covenant family of institutions in Alberta does not provide Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID). However, given its significant palliative and hospice bed base, it responds on average once per week to persons in their care requesting MAID, requiring Covenant to balance the rights of individuals exploring this legally available option without compromising on its institutional identity and ethical integrity. The article details Covenant's advocacy role with government and public messaging, demonstrating how balancing the rights of all is not only necessary, but possible...

BACKGROUND: With an increasing aging population and heavy medical burden, euthanasia has become a controversial topic in Hong Kong (HK) in recent years. Medical students are future medical professionals who may face novel and evolving ethical dilemmas. Hence, their views on euthanasia are crucial. OBJECTIVE: To examine the attitudes of medical students towards euthanasia in HK and identify the factors associated with their attitude towards euthanasia. METHODS: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study among medical students in HK was conducted...

The Viennese psychiatrist Rudolf Allers was one of the principal authors that studied character and contributed to understanding its development and education, including the neurotic character. His psychological observations were based on his own clinical experience, his individual psychology, phenomenological and existential philosophies, and, above all, the doctrine of the Fathers of the Catholic Church and Thomas Aquinas. This paper presents Allers's main ideas about self-improvement as a process of personal changing toward self-perfection, that is, toward the best version of oneself...