Increasing Ethics Awareness in Your Organization

This book is a practical step by step guide, based on the author’s years of experience and can assist teams in setting up an effective structure to manage ethical situations that arise every day. The process and guidelines provided to establish both an Ethics Committee and Ethics Exchange vehicle are designed for care givers to identify, discuss and work through ethical issues for an optimal outcome for the senior and others involved in the situation. The ethical dilemmas presented are all based on real life examples that seniors, care givers and loved ones can experience every day.

It is a must have for all organizations serving seniors and a great education for those who work with and care for seniors.

The author’s passion and commitment to having ethical issues involving seniors talked about and managed effectively is evident throughout the book and a testament to Janet’s years of leadership in this area.

Long Term Care. The Elderly. Dementia. Many of us as healthcare professionals would agree that these are important topics; however, few of us are comfortable discussing the complexity and challenge that these issues present. This possibly stems from the frustration that there is little that can be done once the aging process has taken hold, dementia has set in and the elderly have entered a ‘final destination’ facility. As a physician who works in Long Term Care and has spent time as Medical Director, I have not been immune from these frustrations. I believe, however, that we must work to overcome these barriers to engage in open conversation in order to highlight the challenges facing the care of this vulnerable population. This is the only way progress can be made.

In this book, Janet Iwaszczenko draws from her many years of experience working in and leading a Long-Term Care facility in order to shed light on the unique daily ethical challenges faced in these settings. She lays out a well-structured framework to help the leaders of these facilities implement a process where such issues can be appropriately addressed. This is important and necessary work. Long Term Care staff are faced with complex ethical dilemmas on a daily basis. As cited in [...]

I have had the privilege of working with Janet Iwaszczenko over the past six years and can attest to her passion to champion person-centred care for all seniors. This book is a very hands-on guide written to support caregivers and families from a variety of settings to be able to recognize, review and examine ethical issues and concerns. Caregivers and family members will find numerous examples of ethical predicaments as well as valuable tools and practical suggestions to support setting up ethical committees and teams as well as providing the information they need to for effective and informed decision-making based on the rights and wishes of seniors.

I would highly recommend this book as a great educational tool to any organization working with our senior population.

As Health Care Providers we are continuously faced with ethical dilemmas. Unfortunately, ethical dilemmas are usually not at the forefront of discussions resulting in barriers in building positive relationships which can negatively impact care decisions.

To support ethical decision making its important to provide our team members with the knowledge and skills to complete their duties and the book; Ethics Awareness in Senior Settings provides practical resources with step-by-step guidance to develop and/or support ethical decision-making models.

It was intriguing to read that the ethical situations that the author wrote have a relevant situational significance to many Health Care Providers. Like the author we need to break down the barriers and support ethical awareness and decision making in our facilities and the principle of “Beneficence” to be at the forefront.

I have had the pleasure of knowing Janet for the past 12 years as an Executive Director in the Long-Term Care sector. Janet has been a driving force, with her focus on the vulnerable sector of long-term care. She has been influential in bringing dementia and all that is involved with the care of these residents, to the forefront. This includes all of the ethical issues that arise on a daily basis. She truly is an advocate for these residents. For all of this, she has been an inspiration to me and many more within the community. The Ethics Awareness Program that Janet has developed is a must for all organizations serving vulnerable individuals.

I worked on an Ethics Committee in long term care with Janet and her team. Our focus was on thoughtful and timely resources for families and care partners to make informed, person centred decisions for difficult questions. Ethics Committees are a must for long term care and a valuable tool to assist residents and family members.

Organizations will benefit from putting this Ethics Awareness Program in place.

My wife is a resident in long term care. As a member of the Family Council, I had the opportunity to participate in the Ethics Awareness Committee meetings hosted by Janet Iwaszczenko and including care team members as well as expert representatives from outside agencies as discussed in this book. In addition to the awareness and education provided to the care teams, these meetings and case studies made me much more aware of the ethical challenges and dilemmas faced by care staff members and the management team on a regular basis. The published Resource Guides relating to Emergency CPR, Comfort Feeding, Hospital ER Transfers, and Restraints also provide some very practical advice to family caregivers. The Ethics Awareness in Senior Settings book provides numerous case studies and decision aids which will benefit care team members and management teams within care communities. It will also provide family members with an appreciation of the situations which add levels of complexity to the task of providing resident care and comfort.