The Ethics of Care as Applied to Physiotherapy Training and Practice – A South African Perspective

Abstract

Many philosophical approaches can be brought to the solving of ethical dilemmas in the healthcare professional arena, but in this chapter, we suggest that care ethics or the ethic of care might be the most appropriate within the context of physiotherapy.

The aims of this chapter are the following:

• (a) Introduce readers to the concepts of the ethics of care or “care ethics”. This includes a brief description of the history, principles and criticisms that have been levelled against care ethics.

• (b) Discuss how care ethics is relevant to the ethical issues in physiotherapy training and clinical practice, with an emphasis on the South African situation.

• (c) Present a case study that demonstrates how care ethics might inform ethical decision making in the clinical setting.

The first section of the chapter focuses on the principles of care ethics, history and criticisms. The second section of the chapter focuses on ethical issues in physiotherapy training and practice in South Africa. This includes a discussion of the imperative to train physiotherapists who are fit for the purpose, i.e. able to provide accessible, effective and culturally appropriate care to all South Africans. The final section of the chapter focuses on a case study of an ethical dilemma in clinical practice, with discussion of how care ethics can inform decision making. The “web of care” in this case includes consideration of the community service (junior) physiotherapist, the patient, their caregivers or families, the physiotherapist’s colleagues and lecturers, as well as the wider community from which all are drawn.