BHS-320.R.T1-Ethical Case Studies Essay PDF

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Running head: ETHICAL CASE STUDIES

Ethical Case Studies Tawana M. Patron Grand Canyon University: BHS-320 September 20th, 2020

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ETHICAL CASE STUDIES Ethical Case Studies Ethical principles are a code in which behavioral health professionals must abide by to

respect the dignity and welfare of each and every client. The ethical principles include autonomy, fidelity, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, and honesty. Autonomy ensures a client possesses the power to decide who, if anyone, has access to sensitive information, fidelity ensures the client is treated with integrity, beneficence and nonmaleficence ensure that a client’s wellbeing and safety are top priority, and justice and honesty ensure that a client is treated fairly and not mislead or tricked into or during services (Welfel, 2016). Case Study 1 A case manager’s duties are to ensure that the client obtains any help and/or assistance they need to reach their full potential. Advocating for clients is a primary responsibility for a case manager in the behavioral health field. In protecting the client’s autonomy, a case manager can offer assistance with providing resources for the client to participate in. These resources can include self-help and support groups in the client’s area. Acknowledging the hardships that the client is facing and providing reassurance and help enforces the principle fidelity. A client showing worsening depression and revealing an untreated eating disorder is a sign that the ethical principles of maleficence and beneficence is needing to be addressed. By acknowledging the depression and eating disorder as a risk to the client’s health and providing immediate assistance and resources ensure that the client’s wellbeing are being made top priority. Justice and honesty can be met by providing the client with honest feedback, risks and pros of each resource or not following through with resources and making sure that integrity is being utilized when discussing options with the client. The ethical principles that a case manager must be sensitive with in this particular case are beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, and fidelity.

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The client must be aware that the assistance and resources that are being offered are beneficial for her well being and must trust that the case worker has her best interest, without bias or judgement. It is important to safeguard these principles because the client may feel alone, judged, or ridiculed due to her depression which increases the risk of her refusing or removing herself from services and her mental health deteriorating further. Case Study 2 Protecting the rights, integrity, and wellbeing of all clients is the duty of a case manager, but some instances can call for confidentiality breaching if the client is putting themselves or others in imminent, current, or future danger (APA, 2020). There remains a gray area in ethical issues for professionals to make reasonable decisions when necessary (Runyan, Carter-Henry, & Ogbeide, 2018). To address these gray areas, different organizations, agencies, and states have separate policies and laws that must be abided by. In order to ensure that the autonomy, fidelity, beneficence, maleficence, justice, and honesty are met, a case manager must be honest with the options that they and the client have in the case of a client displaying recent, current, or future abuse. The client must be provided with access to resources such as support groups and financial assistance to ease the stress that they are experiencing to enforce beneficence, maleficence, and their autonomy to choose which and if they will accept services. Regardless of the caseworker’s emotions when abuse is admitted, they must treat the client with respect and dignity so as to ensure their fidelity. Honesty and justice must be ensured by notifying the client of what the consequences of their actions could be. Due to the chance of danger to another in the future, a case work would be obligated to report the abuse if immediate actions weren’t taken that reduce the risk of abuse occurring in the future. Breaching confidentiality increases the chance of potential harm especially in emergencies (Chiumento, Rahman, Frith, Snider, & Tol, 2017). It is

ETHICAL CASE STUDIES the caseworker’s duty to weigh what risks there are if confidentiality is and is not breached. The ethical principles a case manager must be sensitive about in this case is beneficence, maleficence, justice, and fidelity. The client may already feel judged and like a bad person. The case manager must ensure that the client understands that her best interest and wellbeing is top priority along with her child’s. If the client agrees to services, then confidentiality must be safeguarded as to ensure that she does not remove herself from services and put herself and her child in greater danger.

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American Psychological Association. (2020). Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. American Psychological Association. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/ethics/code/ Chiumento, A., Rahman, A., Frith, L., Snider, L., & Tol, W. A. (2017). Ethical standards for mental health and psychosocial support research in emergencies: review of literature and current debates. Globalization & Health, 13, 1–19. https://doiorg.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1186/s12992-017-0231-y Runyan, C. N., Carter-Henry, S., & Ogbeide, S. (2018). Ethical Challenges Unique to the Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) Model. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 25(2), 224–236. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s10880017-9502-2 Welfel, E.R. (2016). Ethics in Counseling & Psychotherapy (6th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning, ISBN-13: 9781305089723...