Ethical decision making

Abstract

"This issue of the journal includes a number of papers on the question of ethical decision making. The paper by Asai et al. examines the way that belief systems, both secular and religious, should be acknowledged in the values of patients in their decision-making. The basic message is to treat each person as their own decision-maker, even if their views are not the same as the health care professionals. Recently I was at an ethics education workshop in Malaysia, where it is apparent that there are persons belonging to many value systems, including a number of classified religious and ethnic groups. However, even within these classifications there is great diversity in the values and principles people use in making decisions. We need to respect each one, and empower persons to critically reflect on their own values and identify what is important for them."