Volume 1, Issue 06 -- August 1998

The Network: It's Out There

Guest Writer Profile:
Michael King, Ph.D

This month we are very pleased to have as our guest writer, Michael King, Ph.D and member of PHEN's Board of Directors.

Born in Wilmington, Delaware, Michael is a psychologist who currently resides in Calgary. He is Manager of Psychology in the Adult Acute Care Sector of the Calgary Regional Health Authority, Adjunct Professor in the Program in Clinical Psychology at the University of Calgary and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Office of Medical Bioethics, Faculty of Medicine, U of C.

Initially interested in issues of professional ethics, Michael's interest in clinical ethics began through his involvement with the Ethics Consultation Committee of the Calgary General Hospital. This interest was developed further as he became associated with the U of C's Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board, Faculty of Medicine of which he is still a member.

The Network that can be seen
Is not the true Network
Lao Tzu (sort of)

If you're reading this, chances are you're a member of the Provincial Health Ethics Network (PHEN). Chances are, also, that you may not quite know what it means to be a PHEN member or what you should do with the strange set of rights and privileges that you get from this membership. PHEN has been in existence for a little over two years now. It has been my privilege to serve the Network for a couple of years longer than that, first as a member of the Steering Committee that developed PHEN and now as a member of the Board.

Most of our time and energies in the past few years have been spent in getting the Network up and running, developing the Network's infrastructure, and developing educational programs and resources out of our two offices. It's time now for the Network to become what it was initially intended to become. But first:

A Little Bit of History

PHEN was born from recommendations of The Rainbow Report of the Premier's Commission on Health Care (1989). The Report envisioned an Ethics Centre that would provide Albertans an opportunity to acquire information and to exchange ideas on the complex ethical issues that shape health and health care today. From the concept of a centre - a place where bioethical issues could be discussed - the idea of a network evolved. That is, the vision developed not for an academic centre, but of an organization that offered a more practical way for the broader community spread out across the province to become involved in ethics and ethics discussion.

In 1993, a group of individuals interested in moving this project forward submitted a proposal to Alberta Health for the formation of a Health Ethics Network in the province. The proposed Network was to do just what The Rainbow Report suggested: to link people in Alberta in a way that would allow connection, coordination, education, and dialogue around ethical issues in health care.

Alberta Health's Three-Year Business Plan, tabled in 1994, explicitly referred to the formation of a health ethics network to achieve these goals. With the establishment of the Network in December, 1995, Alberta became the first province in Canada to have a formal organization specifically devoted to promoting public dialogue and education around the ethical aspects of the great health care issues of the day.

A Work In Progress

Much has been done so far - PHEN has come a long way. Under the visionary leadership of Jan Storch, John Dossetor, and Brad Neubauer, and with the tireless work of the Coordinators (present and past) Al-Noor Nathoo, Laurie Hardingham, and Gail Poole, and PHEN's staff, the Network has set up its offices, developed a core of excellent training modules for ethics education and discussion, delivered workshops and symposia around the province, and started the process of linking people around Alberta for ethics discussion and consultation. It's time now to take the next step, to boldly go where no one has gone before. It's time to make the Network a true network.

My handy Oxford English Dictionary tells me that a network is "an interconnected or interrelated chain, group, or system." In a network, the linking arrows go every which way, the communication flows in all directions. In the next few years, we want PHEN to move from a hub-and-spoke organization with the PHEN offices at the centre, to one in which people around Alberta who are interested in bioethics reflection, discussion, and consultation can find and connect with each other. Whether you're in Brooks, Coronation, Stony Plain, High Level, or Slave Lake, you should be no more than a shout, a phone call, or a mouse click away from fellow Albertans who are interested in and knowledgeable about bioethics.

Current Projects

To this end, PHEN staff are in the process of undertaking a number of initiatives. For example, one endeavor bringing us a step closer to knowing who's out there and what branch of health ethics they're interested in is the continuing refinement of PHEN's Health Ethics Resource Directory. (See announcement below.) This Directory was one of the first projects the Network undertook. It aimed at identifying people who had interest, enthusiasm, and expertise in bioethics that could be of service to others around the province.

PHEN has also worked to establish links, both personally and virtually, with various groups that have a stake in ethical issues in Alberta. These include, of course, Alberta Health, the various Regional Health Authorities and Community Health Councils, the various collegial and regulatory professional bodies in the province, and a variety of not-for-profit organizations that serve special populations in the health sector in Alberta. With these links established, we hope to be able to put groups in touch with other groups around the province who share an interest in health ethics.

Other vehicles for networking around ethics in Alberta include the various workshops that PHEN has offered around the province to date, as well as public lectures that the Network has sponsored on issues of ethical concern today. PHEN has linked to the various components of the Alberta media as well, to bring ethics discussion to a wider public audience than might otherwise encounter it.

"The Network isn't just in a couple of buildings in Calgary or Edmonton. It's you. And it's out there."

Other initiatives currently in the works which you will hear of soon include a series of lectures in the public libraries across the province and the development of more and better resources for members of ethics committees around the province.

The Key Players

The members of the Network (you, Gentle Reader) are the key players in this process of making connections and communication around ethical issues in health care happen. Get to know the members of the Network. Use PHEN's resources to get in touch with people who share your interests in this area. Find out who is where and doing what in ethics around the province. Use PHEN to get connected, get linked, get informed, and get talking about ethics.

Most importantly, remember that the Network isn't just in a couple of buildings in Calgary or Edmonton. It's you. And it's out there.


PHEN Publishes Health Ethics Resource Directory, Second Edition

Resource DirectoryThe second edition of the PHEN Health Ethics Resource Directory has been compiled by Rachel Lynch, and is being distributed to all PHEN members along with this month's issue of In Touch.

The Directory, originally published in 1995, lists individuals by region who have self-identified as potential resource people on particular issues related to ethics and healthcare in Alberta. Additional information includes a listing of ethics committees in the province by region, and of various health ethics organizations around the world.

If you would like to be included, or know of a person/committee/organization who may be willing to be included in the directory but has not been, please contact one of the PHEN offices.

A limited version of the directory is also available at PHEN's website. Additional hard copies of the directory may be purchased for $5 each.


Announcements

  • Report from PHEN Board meeting, held July 9, 1998:

    • The Board welcomed new member Finola Fogarty and was pleased to announce the RHA reappointment to the Board of John Boksetyn from the Palliser Health Region.

    • The Board decided to put on hold the search for a new Network Director, pending a mini retreat in the fall for Board and Staff where the goals of the Network will be revisioned and the Director position will be discussed.

    • PHEN's role in a committee for community health research ethics review, a program currently in the hands of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, was discussed by the Board.

    • PHEN is in the process of making arrangements with public libraries across the province to develop a public lecture series on topics in health ethics. The Board was updated on this and other staff projects.

    • The Board also reviewed the structure and membership of its various subcommittees (executive, fundraising, communication and education) at this meeting.

  • PHEN Staff Changes
    • PHEN will be losing two staff members this fall, both lured away by the opportunity to study in the UK. Rachel Lynch, a research assistant who has been with PHEN for well over a year, is moving on to do a Master's degree in Healthcare Ethics at the University of Leeds. Jai Shah, a summer research assistant, will be spending the upcoming year at the London School of Economics. We wish them both every success in their studies.

    • PHEN is pleased to announce that Bashir Jiwani has accepted the permanent position of Northern Alberta Coordinator with the Network.

  • Make sure to check out the new look of PHEN's website! A new section on personal directives is now available. Other attractions including an introduction to various topical health ethics issues can be expected soon.

  • The next user fund application deadlines are September 1 and November 15, 1998. Obtain forms at either PHEN office.

 

Views offered in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Provincial Health Ethics Network.