Event Next Week Hosted by The Hastings Center and WHO's Epidemic Ethics
Ethics guidance during the Covid-19 pandemic has been valuable in informing some health policies and practices, such as oversight of research and crisis standards of care. But it has been less effective in addressing broader questions about how we should live together in this and future pandemics. A recent Hastings Center special report suggested that a key barrier to developing ethically informed health policies on major societal questions is the erosion of social cohesion driven by a lack of trust of both institutions and individuals. The Hastings Center and Epidemic Ethics, a global community of bioethicists led by the World Health Organization, will host an online seminar on January 31 ( 8 am Eastern time) that will explore the role restoring societal decision-making capabilities in order to rebuild trust and social cohesion and shape ethics-informed pandemic policies and responses. Hastings Center President Mildred Solomon will lead a discussion with Michael Gusmano, a Hastings Center research scholar and a professor at Lehigh University; Bruce Jennings, a Hastings Center senior advisor and an associate professor at Vanderbilt University; and Eduardo J. Gomez, director of the Institute for Health Policy and Politics at Lehigh. Learn more and register.
Gusmano, Jennings, and Solomon are among the editors of The Hastings Center’s special report, Democracy in Crisis: Civic Learning and the Reconstruction of Common Purpose.
Civics Education as a National Security Priority
With deep political divides dominating American society and affecting how the United States is viewed abroad, the decline in civics education is increasingly seen as a national security issue. What is the role of civics education in boosting our resilience against national security threats? This question was the focus of a public event earlier this week featuring Hastings Center President Mildred Solomon and Suzanne Spaulding, a former undersecretary for the Department of Homeland Security who is now a senior advisor for homeland security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Spaulding said that improvements in civics education could help the public resist disinformation campaigns, including those from Russia and China intended to divide us and weaken our commitment to democracy. Drawing on The Hastings Center’s Democracy in Crisis special report, Solomon discussed the necessity of civics education in helping us address major collective problems, including vaccine allocation and mandate policies, as well as climate change. The virtual event was presented by the Commonwealth Club of California and moderated by Shawn Healy, senior director of policy and advocacy for iCivics. Watch the event.
Nominate Physicians and Nurses for Outstanding End-of-Life Care
Nominations are open for awards that recognize six physicians and two nurses for providing outstanding care to patients nearing the end of life. The awards are given by The Hastings Center and the Cunniff-Dixon Foundation and include financial prizes. The Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Awards recognize five exemplary physicians: one senior physician, one in mid-career, and three in early-career. The Dr. Richard Payne Palliative Care Leadership Award honors a physician who demonstrates strong leadership in palliative care for underserved populations. Nursing Awards commend two nurses: one of them for outpatient or inpatient care and the other for hospice or home care. Learn more and nominate physicians and nurses.
Health Equity Summit Sparks Coverage
An article in Medscape, Improving Health Equity Means Fixing Structural Barriers: Experts, found last week's health equity summit surfaced success stories in providing quality care for all patients of color. The virtual event, Righting the Wrongs: Tackling Health Inequities, attracted more than 2,500 people and was hosted by The Hastings Center and the AAMC Center for Health Justice, with the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association, the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation, and the American Hospital Association. Organizers this week also made available recordings, presentations, and continuing education information for the event, available at healthequitysummit.org/collateral.
Upcoming Events
"Ethics and Pandemic Policies: Democracy in Crisis." An event hosted by The Hastings Center and Pandemic Ethics. January 31.
"Comprehending Personhood in the Context of Rehabilitative Medicine." A talk by Hastings Center research scholar Erik Parens in the Weill Cornell Division of Medical Ethics Lecture Series. February 17.
The Hastings Center seeks to ensure responsible health and science policy and practice. We work to secure the wisest possible use of emerging technologies and fair, compassionate, and just health care for people across their lifespan.
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