The Wayne E. Oates Institute is a Connected Learning Community exploring spirituality and health as a way to advance integrative care for the whole person. The Oates Institute is a non-profit educational organization made up of caregivers from the medical, spiritual and counseling communities providing a forum for joining together as an interdisciplinary dialogue toward understanding the relationship between spirituality and the healing process.

Human Values and Health Care

April 12-30, 2010

Facilitator: TBA

12 contact hours

As we provide care for persons who are aged, impaired, or institutionalized and members of their families, how do we address the following issues?

• Personal autonomy
• Informed consent
• Human dignity
• Futile treatment
• Intervention

This seminar helps professional care givers prepare to address ethical questions being raised by patients and family members in the care of the aged, the impaired, and the institutionalized. The seminar engages participants in reflective dialogue around presentations by biomedical ethicist Dr. Paul Simmons, medical ethicist and neurosurgeon Dr. Robert Sexton, and nursing professor Dr. Kay Roberts.

Presentations:

• "The Future of Health Care" by Paul Simmons, Ph.D., Clinical Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Louisville School of Medicine
• "Human Dignity and Health" by Kay Roberts, Ed.D., A.R.N.P., Professor of Nursing, University of Louisville School of Medicine
• "Collaborative Health Care Models for the Common Good" by Kay Roberts, Ed.D., A.R.N.P., Professor of Nursing, University of Louisville School of Medicine
• "Allocation of Medical Resources in the New Millennium" by Robert F. Sexton, M.D., M.Div., Neurosurgeon and Chair of the Jefferson County Medical Association Ethics Committee

Learning Objectives:

Following this seminar, participants should be able to:

1. Recognize the interrelationship of medical factors with spiritual and moral values in healthcare decisions.Identify personal spiritual/theological perspectives regarding human dignity and decisional capacity.
2. Articulate their philosophical and ethical beliefs about participation in health care for the poor.
3. Engage in the issues of: pain management, the meanings of human suffering, and the purposes of medicine.

Continuing Education Credit:

As a participant in this online seminar you may earn 12 contact hours of continuing education credit by reading the presentations and participating in the discussion. To receive continuing education credits you must contribute at least 2 posts per week to the discussion -- one reflecting on the presentations in light of your personal experience and the other responding to one of your colleague’s reflections or inquiries. The evaluation form submitted at the end of the seminar serves as the CEU application. Following your submission of this form you will receive your CEU certificate.

This seminar is approved for CEUs by the National Board of Certified Counselors.

Registration:

The seminar is limited to 12 participants. Registration for members of the Oates Institute is free and only $60 for non-members.