Discussion question-Topic 4 DQ 2 Ensuring the protection of human subjects is necessary when conducting research

Discussion question-Topic 4 DQ 2

Ensuring the protection of human subjects is necessary when conducting research projects. What are some methods that can be used to protect personal rights of someone in one of the groups that is labeled as vulnerable? Consider how a patient’s values and your own clinical judgment must be considered before applying the evidence in clinical decision making for an individual patient.

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Solution

Discussion Question-Topic 4 DQ 2

Vulnerable groups include human subjects that may be considered to be particularly susceptible to undue influence or coercion in a research setup (Allen, 2017). A vulnerable group in research includes individuals that are incapable of fully understanding what it means to participate in a given study and people who may not clearly understand what constitutes informed consent. Individuals considered vulnerable when conducting the research might therefore possess a diminished capacity to cope, resist, anticipate, or recover from impacts of man-made or natural hazards (Allen, 2017). Vulnerable individuals might also include people who are unable to take care of themselves and have an increased chance of harming themselves or others. Different measures can therefore be taken in research studies to protect vulnerable individuals, such as individuals suffering from mental health challenges or children. For a study involving children, the researchers will therefore require the consent of the legal guardian or parent before such children participate in a study. Children above the age of 7 should also indicate an interest to participate in a research study before their involvement (Allen, 2017).

Before applying evidence in the clinical decision-making for a patient, a patient’s values and the clinical judgment of a healthcare practitioner should be considered. This is because applying clinical judgment and considering the patient values helps in the application of evidence in clinical decision-making through different actions such as prioritizing the treatments or tests that should be investigated, selecting the research designs that are favorable based on a patient’s values, and only finding options that support patient choices (Kelly et al., 2015). The consideration of patient values and clinical judgment before the application of the evidence in clinical decision-making, therefore, helps to save time and resources, which is limited for busy clinicians (Kelly et al., 2015).

References

Allen, M. (2017). The sage encyclopedia of communication research methods (Vols. 1-4).

Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc doi: 10.4135/9781483381411.

Kelly, M. P., Heath, I., Howick, J., & Greenhalgh, T. (2015). The importance of values in

evidence-based medicine. BMC medical ethics, 16(1), 69. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-015-0063-3.