Background: Ethical Issues in Eating Disorder Treatment will provide a practical approach to common ethical issues across disciplines, including confidentiality, informed consent, documentation requirements, use of technology, and termination of treatment. Current ethical codes will be reviewed from a variety of disciplines. Relevant law will be explored as well.
Ethical Issues in Eating Disorder Treatment
- Importance of Ethics
- This section will introduce ethics and explain why ethical codes were developed and their importance to the field.
- Ethics in a Multidisciplinary Field
- This section will discuss how ethics play an important role in eating disorder treatment. Eating disorders are one of the most multifaceted of conditions, which causes clients to be treated by a variety of providers with varying ethical mandates. This section will assist providers in understanding their colleagues better and maximizing their collaborative relationship.
- Ethical Code for Physicians
- This section will highlight certain provisions of the Ethical Code for Physicians and discuss eating disorder application with discussion of hypothetical situations. Comparison of codes will occur throughout the following five sections.
- Ethical Code for Psychologists
- This section will highlight certain provisions of the Ethical Code for Psychologists and discuss eating disorder application with discussion of hypothetical situations.
- Ethical Code for Dietitians
- This section will highlight certain provisions of the Ethical Code for Dietitians and discuss eating disorder application with discussion of hypothetical situations.
- Ethical Code for Nurses
- This section will highlight certain provisions of the Ethical Code for Nurses and discuss eating disorder application with discussion of hypothetical situations.
- Ethical Code for Therapists (MFTs, PCs,)
- This section will highlight certain provisions of the Ethical Code for Therapists and discuss eating disorder application with discussion of hypothetical situations.
- Ethical Code for Social Workers
- This section will highlight certain provisions of the Ethical Code for Social Workers and discuss eating disorder application with discussion of hypothetical situations.
- How to Resolve Law-Ethics Conflicts
- This section will discuss the thorny situation practitioners may find themselves in when law and ethics do not agree. Strategies will be provided on how to best resolve these situations.
- How to Resolve Interdisciplinary Ethical Conflicts
- This section will look at the different roles that each treating professional plays and how to best collaborate when different ethical codes pose different requirements.
- Summary
This presentation is geared toward a variety of treatment professionals who work with eating disorder clients, including physicians, psychologists, dietitians, nurses, therapists, and social workers. The presentation will focus on ethical issues that are common to the treatment of eating disorders. Ethics play a major role in the relationship between provider and client and it is very important that providers stay up to date on the ethical standards for their discipline as well as the ever changing legal landscape of healthcare. The treatment of eating disorders is a multifaceted one with a significant tendency for one client to be engaged with multiple providers at the same time. To maximize our effectiveness as treating professionals, it is imperative that we collaborate with our colleagues in a positive, productive manner. To enhance collaboration, interdisciplinary knowledge is key. An area that is seldom thought of is ethics. Thus, this presentation will have the dual benefit of informing practitioners of ethical issues within their own discipline, but also of educating them to the ethical issues that arise in their collaborator’s disciplines.
The meat of the presentation will surround analysis of each ethical code for physicians, psychologists, dietitians, nurses, therapists, and social workers. Relevant areas of the codes will be highlighted with an emphasis on eating disorder treatment. Hypotheticals will be presented for discussion with a focus on how different disciplines would respond. Ethical codes will also be compared across disciplines to point out the similarities and differences between codes. With this knowledge and discussion, providers will be better situated to deal more effectively with interdisciplinary ethical issues as they arise and be able to better anticipate issues for clients so that they can be prepared for another practitioner’s response. The ultimate goal being that by improved understanding and collaboration, we will be able to make ethically sound treatment decisions that are in the best interest of the clients.
Dr. Dolores received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Drexel University and J.D. from Villanova University School of Law. He trained as a fellow in Health Psychology at the Medical University in South Carolina, where he specialized in medical-psychological co-morbid conditions which included treatment of eating disorders. He also practiced forensic psychology at Florida State Hospital, where he conducted competency to stand trial assessments and risk assessments. With publications ranging from eating disorder topics to the interactions between law and mental health, Dr. Dolores is an expert on how to resolve ethical quandaries within the framework of eating disorder treatment.
