Question

What are the ethical and moral issues that present themselves when communities/cities/states choose to address or not address the health needs of the underserved populations? Choose one of these populations and discuss what resources may be available to them.

Answer 1

Ethical problems/issues occur when it becomes difficult to act without compromising one ethical principle for another, or personal, societal moral standards are in conflict with each other.

There are mainly three very common types of ethical problems:

One is ethical distress which occurs when the one who is providing knows the right course of action is but cannot act on it. This frequently occurs in the care of the underserved. For example, when there is lack of resources, it makes it difficult or impossible to pursue the right course of action, As a result ethical distress is created.

Ethical conflicts or dilemmas occur, on the other hand, when a course of action fulfills some moral goods but compromises with others. Ethical conflicts may arise when there are competing compelling needs.

Ethical quandary arises not over how to approach a particular issue but in who has the moral authority to make a decision. Examples of ethical quandaries in everyday life like say you are a doctor and one of your patients who opposes euthanasia on religious grounds, asks you to do whatever is necessary to stop his pain. The doses of drugs to stop the pain might almost kill the patient. The patient recognizes this but still wants the pain to be stopped.