The Role Of Autonomy In Health Care

Autonomy is integral to health care; however, promoting and sustaining patient autonomy may be more difficult to enact than is often suggested. According to Hewitt-Taylor (2004), the concept of autonomy becomes more complex when the patient is a child, or an adult who has learning disabilities or a mental health problem that might be considered to impinge on their ability to make informed decisions. An adult with a mental health problem, who is unable to function autonomously has to rely on their caregivers and POAs for their care. In situations like this, health care staff need to be aware of the legal as well as moral and ethical issues involved when facilitating autonomous choices for their patients (Edgar, et al., 2001). The distinction
should be made between an individual's ability to function autonomously, and healthcare professionals' skills in conveying information in an appropriate manner and their ability and willingness to listen, e.g. to clients who have problems with verbal communication (Lowden, 2002).