Small animals, big decisions: potential of moral case deliberation for a small animal hospital on the basis of an observational study

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingArticle in proceedingsResearch

  • M. Long
  • S. Springer
  • I.A. Burgener
  • H. Grimm
Veterinary medical decisions often involve ethically challenging aspects that go beyond purely technical questions. In human medicine, different models and methods of clinical ethics support services (CESS) have been established in order to help healthcare professionals, patients, family members, and other stakeholders to handle these ethical challenges and to improve patient care. So far, only few attempts at implementing CESS in veterinary medicine have been published. The aim of this article is to elaborate on the potential of moral case deliberation (MCD) and CESS in general in a small animal hospital. The first part of this article presents an observational study that was conducted to identify requirements for such a service based on problems veterinarians faced with regards to decision-making processes and cases. The second part of this paper shows how CESS in general can assist in addressing these challenges and why MCD is a particularly promising candidate for a CESS in a small animal hospital.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationJustice and food security in a changing climate : EurSafe 2021, Fribourg, Switzerland, 24-26 June 2021
EditorsHanna Schübel, Ivo Wallimann-Helmer
Number of pages6
PublisherWageningen Academic Publishers
Publication dateJun 2021
Pages261-266
Chapter39
ISBN (Print)978-90-8686-362-4
ISBN (Electronic)978-90-8686-915-2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2021
Externally publishedYes

ID: 274239691