Clinical Ethics Consultation
One of the most important services that Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital offers our patients and their family members is help in making difficult healthcare decisions through the Ethics Consultation Team. The consultation is free and completely confidential.
The Team can help you work through issues such as:
- Who should make decisions for patients who cannot decide for themselves or communicate their wishes?
- What should patients or family members do if they cannot understand what caregivers are saying about the need for certain tests or treatments?
- What should patients do if suggested treatments are in conflict with the beliefs of their religion or culture?
- What should happen when there is strong disagreement or uncertainty about what is best for a patient?
- What should a patient consider in agreeing to or in refusing treatment?
- When should life-prolonging treatments—such as feeding tubes or breathing machines—be started, continued or stopped?
How We Can Help
The key to making wise decision at crucial times is deciding what is best for the patient. Simple as that sounds, what is best is not always clear. A consultation is designed to help patients, families, and caregivers clarify issues and reach those decisions.Specifically, the patient and/or family receive support through:
- Confidential access to team members who counsel and guide them through the decision-making process;
- Educational materials that increase patient and family’s knowledge about healthcare decision-making;
- Help in resolving issues related to end of life issues, advance directives, cultural and religious beliefs.
Members of the Consultation Team include physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, patient advocates, administrative personnel. Not all members are involved in each consultation. Those that can best advise on a particular issue take part
How to Request a Consultation
A patient, family member, or caregiver may request a meeting with a Ethics Consultation Team Member. All discussions, information and a records are protected for privacy.
Contact us at 519-973-4411 Ext. 3123 or you may contact your unit Chaplain at ext. 3170Click here for the Clinical Ethics brochure.
Research Ethics Board Program
The Guiding Principles
The Research Ethics Board at Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital helps ensure that all research meets the highest ethical standards, and that the greatest protection is provided to participants who serve as research subjects. It is guided by the principles of the Tri-Council Policy Statement, Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans, which sets the standards for research ethics boards in Canada.
Research is defined as a systemic investigation to establish facts, principles or develop generalizable knowledge. Research activities are of considerable benefit and enhancement to the community, its health care practitioners and the hospital. Research is a fundamental activity for the generation of new knowledge.
The Research Ethics Board (REB)
The role of the Research Ethics Board is to ensure the safety of patients involved in any research study or clinical trial conducted in whole or part at Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital.Before any research can take place at Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital, the proposal for research must undergo a review and approval process by the Research Ethics Board to ensure that the research complies with the highest ethical standards. The REB will approve whether the scientific question or hypothesis is significant enough to warrant the use of human subjects and that the proposed study and conduct of the research demonstrates:
- Respect for human dignity
- Respect for voluntary and informed consent
- Respect for vulnerable persons
- Respect for privacy and confidentiality
- Respect for welfare and rights of research subjects by balancing harms and benefits through minimizing harm and maximizing beneficence
Contact Information
The Research Ethics Board meets once a month. If you have any inquires or would like information about submitting a research proposal, you may contact:
Peggy AllenResearch Ethics Board Secretary