Ethco - For Better Ethical Safety in Future Health Care Environments

Project/agreement No.

2022-1-FI01-KA220-HED-000086335

Project funding

400 000.00 EUR, of which 48 800 is RSU co-funding

Project manager

doc. Agita Melbārde-Kelmere

Project realization

01.10.2022. - 31.05.2025.

Aim

To strengthen healthcare professionals' ethical competence by providing educational materials including theory sessions, structure for Ethical Coffee Room discussions, and ethics simulations.

Description

The EthCo project (For Better Ethical Safety in Future Health Care Work Environment) is implemented in cooperation with five European countries - Finland, Latvia, Malta, Spain, and Sweden – and funded by the EU mobility programme Erasmus+.

The target groups are nursing and physiotherapy students and professionals. During the project, participants build their competence in ethics and are able to take on the role of ethical coach in an organisation and by educating others are able to ensure ethical safety in the workplace. Surveys will be carried out among the target groups during the project, which will serve as a basis for developing training materials. The project coordinates the ethical education and level of competence of health professionals working in partner countries.

The project develops the professional competences and skills of students in nursing programmes at RSU. It also focuses on developing learning materials and a student-centred curriculum for ethics in healthcare education. These actions will stimulate innovative learning and teaching practices as the consortium addresses shortcomings in the skills identified and implements international collaborative online learning and teaching practices.

Multicultural environments are common in healthcare work environments today, and staff often encounter patients and colleagues from different cultures. Examples of ethical issues encountered in the current healthcare environment include: delivering care according to a patient's needs despite limited resources or constraints imposed by the organisation; respecting a patient's right to self-determination and situations involving patient advocacy; being present in a situation alongside a patient and treating patients equally, regardless of their age, illness, habits, culture or socio-economic status.

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