Citation

Degenholtz HB, Parker LS, Reynolds CF. Ethics Behav. 2002; 12(1): 43-62.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1207/S15327019EB1201_3

PMID

12171082

Abstract

Employing the National Institute of Mental Health-funded Prevention of Suicide in Primary Care Elderly Collaborative Trial as a case study, we discuss 2 sets of ethical issues: obtaining informed consent for a clinic-based intervention study and using treatment as usual (TAU) as the control condition. We then address these ethical issues in the context of the debate about the quality improvement efforts of health care organizations. Our analysis reveals the tension between ethics and scientific integrity involved with using TAU as a control condition and the difficulty in designing high-quality research in a community-based setting.

Language: en

Keywords

Aged; Biomedical and Behavioral Research; Community Health Services; Control Groups; Depressive Disorder; Disclosure; Health Services for the Aged; Humans; Informed Consent; Mental Health Services; Mental Health Therapies; Outcome Assessment, Health Care; Primary Health Care; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Research Design; Risk; Suicide Prevention