Sadie Regmi |
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02.08.2024-27.09.2024
Just Lockdown? The ethics and politics of public health policy during emergencies
Primary aim: To develop a dynamic framework for better incorporating ethical considerations into public health policy during emergencies, particularly pertaining to non-pharmaceutical interventions.
I have four objectives (in order of priority):
1. How can ethical considerations be better incorporated into public health policy during future emergencies?
i. I will survey the literature on existing frameworks for incorporating ethical considerations in policy making and examine their strengths and weaknesses.
ii. Through a qualitative study, I will get stakeholder perspectives on the frameworks surveyed in (i) and how they can be improved.
iii. Through normative analysis and feedback from experts, I will refine and develop existing frameworks.
2. What are the main points of agreement and disagreement between stakeholders and the ethics literature?
i. I will conduct a survey of the ethical literature on non-pharmaceutical interventions, creating an overview of ethical considerations.
ii. Based on stakeholder interviews, I will create an overview of the ethical considerations behind decisions to implement nationwide stay-at-home orders in England.
iii. I will compare points of agreement and disagreement between (i) and (ii).
3. Which problems and ethical concerns were considered (and not considered) by stakeholders and how were the different concerns negotiated in practice?
i. Through the qualitative study, I will examine how stakeholders rank different ethical considerations in terms of their importance.
ii. I will examine how stakeholders conceptualise ethical considerations and how they measure if policies can realise and respect these considerations.
4. Which frameworks or tools did stakeholders use when giving guidance on stay-at-home orders in England?
i. I will interview stakeholders to assess whether they used pandemic preparedness plans, frameworks for ethical decision- making during pandemics, frameworks for priority setting in healthcare and cost-benefit analysis, or ethical theories.