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Ethical Challenges in the Provision of Mental Health Services for Children and Families During Disasters

  • Child and Family Disaster Psychiatry (B Pfefferbaum, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of the Review

As mental health professionals assist individuals and communities affected by disaster, they are likely to encounter ethical issues. We conducted a review of academic and grey literature to identify ethical issues associated with the provision of mental health care during disasters, with particular attention to children and families.

Recent Findings

We identified nine categories of ethical challenge: ensuring competent care; protecting confidentiality and privacy; obtaining informed consent and respecting autonomy; providing culturally sensitive care; avoiding harm; allocating limited resources; maintaining neutrality and avoiding bias; addressing issues of liability and employer responsibilities; and conducting research ethically.

Summary

The organization and provision of mental health services during disasters presents ethical challenges for care providers—as well as for communities, coordinators, and policymakers. Mental health professionals need to navigate this ethical terrain in order to provide needed care to individuals and communities affected by crisis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, 3654 Sir-William-Osler Boulevard, Montreal, QC, H3G 1Y5, Canada

    Matthew Hunt & Nicole E. Pal

  2. Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Matthew Hunt

  3. Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence & Impact, Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Lisa Schwartz

  4. School of Nursing & Human Sciences, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Dónal O’Mathúna

  5. College of Nursing, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Dónal O’Mathúna

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  1. Matthew Hunt
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  2. Nicole E. Pal
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  3. Lisa Schwartz
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  4. Dónal O’Mathúna
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Correspondence to Matthew Hunt.

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Conflict of Interest

Matthew Hunt, Lisa Schwartz, and Dónal O’Mathúna declare no conflict of interest.

Matthew Hunt is supported by a salary award from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec- Santé. Nicole E. Pal worked as a research assistant on this project supported by a grant from the Canadian Institute of Health Research.Lisa Schwartz is supported by the Arnold L Johnson Chair in Health Care Ethics.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Child and Family Disaster Psychiatry

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Hunt, M., Pal, N.E., Schwartz, L. et al. Ethical Challenges in the Provision of Mental Health Services for Children and Families During Disasters. Curr Psychiatry Rep 20, 60 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-018-0917-8

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