Building workforce capacity for ethical reflection in health promotion: a practitioner’s experience

Abstract

Health promotion does not have a Code of Ethics, though attempts have been made to assist practitioners in their understanding and application of ethical concepts. This article describes and analyses one such attempt, sustained from 2006 to 2014 in rural South Australia. The attempt comprised capacity building activities that were informed by principles of organisational change management, especially the principle of creating champions. The article also presents a framework, largely comprising ethical questions, that might help practitioners as a prompt and guide to ethical reflection. The framework was developed to be as accessible as possible in light of the diverse educational backgrounds found in rural settings. Finally, the article highlights some philosophical dimensions to the framework and defends its role, proposing that ethical reflection is integral to good practice and never simply the province of theorists. The article does all this with a view to stimulating discussion on how to increase the frequency and quality of ethical reflection undertaken by health promotion practitioners.