Program Overview

Program Overview

The program in question appears to be related to a university course, specifically PHIL519 - Ethical Practice in Digital Health. This unit explores the ethical and legal challenges arising from the increasing reliance on advanced digital technologies and data accessibility in contemporary healthcare practice.

Unit Rationale, Description, and Aim

The unit aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills to think, judge, and respond appropriately to current and emerging challenges in professional practice, ensuring respect for human dignity while working for the common good. It covers complex ethical and legal challenges, including issues concerning patient data, research ethics, and the use of artificial intelligence in therapeutic decision-making.

Learning Outcomes

To successfully complete this unit, students will be able to:

• Analyse key aspects of the social, clinical, and management contexts affected by new and emerging developments in digital health and evaluate the relevance of ethics to their application in practice.
• Critically analyse the benefits and associated ethical risks of new and emerging technologies and data applications in healthcare provision.
• Apply understanding of the benefits and risks of digital health developments and the key ethical principles and challenges involved to common clinical and/or management situations in healthcare.

Unit Content

Topics covered include:

• Key concepts such as privacy, confidentiality, anonymity, and de-identification, and general principles relating to the ethical and legal use of patient data.
• Measuring the value of health information and the justification for the storage/use of data.
• Complexities concerning health data security issues.
• Ownership, use, and confidentiality of genetic profiles.
• The 'dual-use' dilemma issue, particularly as it pertains to public health and the reuse of data acquired for other purposes.
• The use of individual and agglomerated data in healthcare research ethics.
• Issues raised by the use of artificial intelligence in digital healthcare contexts.

Assessment Strategy and Rationale

The assessment strategy facilitates and examines understanding of key concepts, principles, and theories and encourages the application of this material to workplace healthcare contexts. Assessments include a critical reflection piece and an integrative case study, each weighing 50% of the total grade.

Learning and Teaching Strategy and Rationale

The unit is delivered in online mode using an active learning approach, providing students with choice and variety in how they learn. Activities encourage students to practice and apply their learning in situations similar to their future professions.

Representative Texts and References

A list of representative texts and references is provided, including works by Arora, Baric-Parker, Cohen, Hasselberger, Celi, Househ, Krutzinna, Richterich, Rivas, and Sinibaldi, among others.

Locations and Credit Points

The unit is offered online and is worth 10 credit points.

Year

The information provided is relevant for the year 2025.