A Patient-Centered Care Ethics Analysis Model for Rehabilitation

There exists a paucity of ethics resources tailored to rehabilitation. To help fill this ethics resource gap, the authors developed an ethics analysis model specifically for use in rehabilitation care. The Patient-Centered Care Ethics Analysis Model for Rehabilitation is a process model to guide careful moral reasoning for particularly complex or challenging matters in rehabilitation. The Patient-Centered Care Ethics Analysis Model for Rehabilitation was developed over several iterations, with feedback at different stages from rehabilitation professionals and bioethics experts. Development of the model was explicitly informed by the theoretical grounding of patient-centered care and the context of rehabilitation, including the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Being patient centered, the model encourages (1) shared control of consultations, decisions about interventions, and management of the health problems with the patient and (2) understanding the patient as a whole person who has individual preferences situated within social contexts. Although the major process headings of the Patient-Centered Care Ethics Analysis Model for Rehabilitation resemble typical ethical decision-making and problem-solving models, the probes under those headings direct attention to considerations relevant to rehabilitation care. The Patient-Centered Care Ethics Analysis Model for Rehabilitation is a suitable tool for rehabilitation professionals to use (in real time, for retrospective review, and for training purposes) to help arrive at ethical outcomes.