SOPHE code of ethics

For this Discussion, you will be assigned to a specific ethical scenario. Download the Ethics Scenarios provided in this week’s Learning Resources and review the scenario that you are assigned. Consider how the SOPHE code of ethics may apply to the that scenario you were assigned.

1. You have been hired to work for the city health department to complete a project
that was begun by your predecessor and funded with money from a local
foundation. The grant requires the health department to develop four programs
on the topic of hepatitis and then to present these programs to eight people
representing specific priority groups in the community. After being hired, you
discover that the administrator of the grant, your supervisor, has not adhered to
the grant guidelines. Only half the number of programs has been developed as
the grant required. Further, the number of presentations is less than required,
and presentations have been given to people not in the identified priority groups.
In addition, your supervisor has taken some of the travel funds allocated to pay
for your travel to and from presentations and has diverted them into his personal
travel fund to attend a national conference in Las Vegas. It is now time for you to
develop your year-end report, which will be sent directly to the local foundation
office. Your supervisor has provided you with a copy of the original grant
proposal and says to make sure your figures agree with those in the proposal. In
other words, he expects you to “fudge” the data. What will you do?

2. As the health and fitness director of a large corporate wellness program, you
have been asked to provide data to your supervisor that supports the
effectiveness of your program. The trend in the company has been to cut
programs that do not “carry their weight.” The “bottom line” is important. In your
review of the data related to your program, it is obvious that the data are not
strong. However, in fairness to you, the program has been in operation for only
two years, and it is too early to see the type of results management is looking for.
You are the only one who has access to the data, and no one will know if the
data you submit are accurate. How will you handle this situation?

3. You are a high school health teacher. The board of education has just adopted a
policy that prohibits the teaching or discussing of information related to
contraceptives or abortion in the district. The only approach that can be
mentioned in the classroom is abstinence. You have read research that indicates
that the abstinence approach is not as effective as some may think. After class
one day, one of your students approaches you and informs you that she is
pregnant. She requests your help and asks for the name and location of an
abortion clinic. She also asks that you not tell anyone else about this. What will
you do?

4. You are the health education specialist for a large city hospital. Your supervisor
has asked you to develop a program on “safer sex” practices for the gay and
lesbian population. The program is to be made available to lesbian and gay
groups in the community. Because of your strong religious convictions, your
personal values and beliefs are opposed to the gay/lesbian lifestyle and the
“safer sex” approach. In addition, you feel uncomfortable dealing with homosexuals in general and especially with anyone who is HIV-positive. How will
you handle this situation?

By Day 3

Post an explanation of which article(s) of the SOPHE code of ethics might best inform the role of health educators in the ethical scenario you were assigned and why. Be specific and provide examples of how these articles of the SOPHE code of ethics applies to the practice of health education. Then provide a brief description of two article(s) of the SOPHE code of ethics you believe are most important for informing your practice in the field of health education and explain why.