Public Health Ethics

The British Columbia Public Health Ethics Project was a participatory research project conducted collaboratively by researchers at The University of British Columbia (Faculty of Medicine and School of Nursing), Provincial Health Services Authority (Ethics Service, Indigenous Health, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control), First Nations Health Authority, and members of Indigenous, disability, seniors, and newcomer communities. This work is supported by a grant from the Pacific Public Health Foundation.

In Spring 2024 we asked for ideas on what a public health ethics guide should include. We reached out to people from disability, senior, newcomer, and Indigenous communities, as well as public health professionals. We created a public health ethics guide for use in BC that includes information about ethics in public health, an Ethical Resolution Process, descriptions of 5 approaches to analyzing ethical dilemmas, and a practice tool for public health professionals. You can find the guide below.

We also created an online course that presents 3 fictional ethical dilemmas for learners to work through. The course is free and available to everyone for three years through Continuing Professional Development at The University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine. Physicians can receive continuing education credits for completing it.

Thank you to everyone who has shared their time and expertise to support this project.