Postgraduate Course: Compassionate Care and the Law (LAWS11337)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This module examines the challenges that arise for law in the implementation of compassion in modern healthcare practice. It will highlight topical areas of concern by bringing together perspectives from law, medical ethics, psychology, policy, and practice through interactive case studies.
The module will evaluate current trends that promote a culture of patient choice and empowerment in the context of the caring relationship, within broader policy efforts to redefine care through compassionate approaches. In doing so, it will reveal two fundamental tensions relevant to the application of law in this context:
First, it is often difficult to introduce the flexibility inherent in care relationships as seen in practice, into current legal concepts and jurisprudential solutions that often warrant a binary (yes or no) approach in regulating care. This means that current rights-based approaches may seem too rigid or inadequate to support the values that characterise modern healthcare.
Second, with an increased global ageing population and resource allocation pressures in 21st century healthcare, current policies to redefine care increasingly invest in cost-effective solutions. In considering the role of the law to support values of compassion, autonomy, choice, and empowerment through care, it is important to clearly articulate the ethical, social values, and principles that inspire current law and policy solutions.
This module examines how these fundamental tensions are settled within the legal and regulatory structures governing modern healthcare.
Session Titles:
Session 1 - Introduction to Core Values, Concepts and Instruments
Session 2 - Ethics of Care and Caring Relationships
Session 3 - Policy and Practice Approaches to Ethical Care
Session 4 - Carers' Rights and Duties
Session 5 - Healthcare and Assistive Technologies
Session 6 - Vulnerability: Mental Health and Care (Dementia)
Session 7 - Vulnerability: Adults and Care
Session 8 - Vulnerability: Children and Care
Session 9 - Palliative Care and Assisted Dying
Session 10 - Self Care and Patient Roles (Diabetes)
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| Course description |
Not entered
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2014/15, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 40,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
156 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
1. Participation in online discussion - 20%
2. Coursework assessment - 20%
3. 4,000-word module essay - 60% |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
The aims of this module are to:
- Consider how the law can contribute to current efforts to redefine care through compassionate approaches, and how to deal with challenges that arise in this area;
- Introduce students to a more patient-centred understanding and critical assessment of healthcare structures and interventions, and their regulatory architecture;
- Focus on the challenges that arise in the practical implementation of current compassionate approaches through interactive case studies;
- Explore how relational ethical notions of care can be applied in law to expedite new notions of good care in regulating healthcare practice.
By the end of this module, students will be able to:
- Identify & critique the core ethical tensions and conflicting interests at play in the regulation and practice of compassionate care;
- Formulate well-reasoned and coherent arguments about how the law contributes to the shaping of compassionate care and the novel challenges that may arise from its application;
- Demonstrate a solid understanding of current legal regimes relevant to the regulation of compassionate care, and where appropriate critically suggest possible reforms.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Shawn Harmon
Tel: (0131 6)51 4267
Email: Shawn.Harmon@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Douglas Thompson
Tel: (0131 6)50 2022
Email: D.Thompson@ed.ac.uk |
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© Copyright 2014 The University of Edinburgh - 12 January 2015 4:17 am
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