000 02379cam a2200217 4500500
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041 _afre
042 _adc
100 1 0 _aRoussille, Bernadette
_eauthor
700 1 0 _a Deschamps, Jean-Pierre
_eauthor
245 0 0 _aThe Ethical Dimensions of Health Education, or the Limits of Benevolence
260 _c2013.
500 _a81
520 _aEthical issues have only recently emerged as a topic of debate in health education. Until recently, health education was seen as “beneficent” by nature and as designed to improve well-being and quality of life.Traditionally, the purpose of health education was to promote behavior change. The idea of intruding into people’s private lives raises the question of the objectives and methods of health education.The principles underlying ethical reflection – beneficence, non-malfeasance, autonomy and social justice – provide a basis for identifying a number of problems or abuses. Traditionally, people have tended to be seen as implicitly responsible for their own behavior, a view based on a moralistic, guilt-inducing and didactic approach to health and health behavior. The assumption is that these infringements affect the identity and dignity of persons. In addition, imposing standards and norms of behavior defined by others amounts to undermining or denying the autonomy of individuals. Finally, traditional health education approaches, and in particular communication campaigns, may contribute to the improvement of health, but it is at the cost of increased inequalities.To conclude, ethics is both a statement of values and a method or process. Ethics needs to be debated and discussed in a democratic forum. It is up to citizens, not experts, to establish the link between means and ends. Health promotion has resulted in a shift in perspective – a shift that has provided protection against ethical lapses and violations. This paper argues that health education must create the conditions of autonomy by focusing first on environmental factors and inequalities.
690 _ahealth promotion
690 _aethics
690 _ahealth education
690 _apublic health
786 0 _nSanté Publique | Special issue | HS | 2013-07-01 | p. 85-91 | 0995-3914
856 4 1 _uhttps://shs.cairn.info/journal-sante-publique-2013-HS2-page-85?lang=en&redirect-ssocas=7080
999 _c586304
_d586304