Ethics Consultation Service
At Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, we respect your values and
those of your family in all aspects of care.
As you go through cancer treatment, or guide your child or
another family member through it, you may have such questions as:
- How
aggressive should treatment be?
- Should
I volunteer for a clinical trial?
- Who
should make medical decisions for me if I’m not able to do so?
Advances in technology, multiple treatment options, and differences
in beliefs and values can create challenges for all of us. There are so many
choices that sometimes we need to pause and ask: What is the right thing to do?
One way to answer this question is to request an ethics
consultation.
The Ethics Consultation Service can help you and others
involved in your care talk about, understand, and come to agreement about
ethical issues. Our goal is to help
everyone involved arrive at a resolution that is right for all.
What does an ethics
consultation do?
- Encourages communication and shared
decision-making among patients, families, and the health care team
- Clarifies the ethical questions
- Helps identify options and choices related to
patient care
- Offers recommendations to you and your health care
team
What happens when I
request an ethics consultation?
There are usually three phases of an ethics consultation:
Preparation
- A
member of the Ethics Consultation Service will speak with you to clarify
your concerns. We will also speak
with members of your health care team.
- We may
review your medical record. We will maintain your confidentiality at all
times.
Discussion
- Three
members of the Ethics Consultation Service will meet with you, your
family, and your health care team.
- During
the meetings, we'll seek to understand everyone’s values and concerns.
- We'll
also help identify options for the decisions that your face.
Recommendations
- We
will offer recommendations that we hope will be helpful to you and your
medical team.
- In
most cases, we will put a written summary of our recommendations in your
medical chart. We will give you a copy of these recommendations.
Must I do what the
ethics consultation recommends?
No. The recommendations are only advisory. However, we hope they will help you reach a
decision that feels right for everyone.
To request an ethics
consultation at Dana-Farber
Call the hospital operator at 617-632-3352 and ask for the
ethics consultant on call. The ethics consultant is available by page Monday to
Friday, 8am to 6pm. If you wish to leave
a message, call Dana-Farber's ethics hotline and 24-hour confidential voice
mail at 617-632-5713.
For patients
hospitalized at Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Call the hospital operator at 617-732-5656 and ask for the
ethics consultant on call.
For patients
hospitalized at Children’s Hospital
Call the hospital operator at 617-355-6363 and ask for the
ethics consultant on call.
The Ethics Advisory
Committee
The Ethics Consultation Service is part of Dana-Farber's
Ethics Advisory Committee.
The committee:
- Provides ethics consultation to Dana-Farber clinicians,
patients, or family members.
- Develops hospital policies related to patient
care and ethics.
- Facilitates professional education about medical
ethics.
Who is on the Ethics
Advisory Committee?
The committee has about 20 interdisciplinary members,
including:
- Doctors
- Nurses
- Patient and Family Representatives
- Chaplains
- Social workers
- Mental health professionals
- Researchers
- Ethicists
- Lawyers
All members of the Committee receive education and training
about medical ethics.
Our Ethicists
Steven Joffe serves as Hospital Ethicist at
Dana-Farber. A pediatric oncologist, he
cares for stem cell transplant patients at Dana-Farber and Children’s Hospital.
He is interested in the ethics of medical research and of the patient-provider
relationship.
Jennifer Kesselheim, MD,
MBE
Jennifer Kesselheim serves as Co-chair of the Ethics
Advisory Committee and is an Associate Ethicist at Dana-Farber. She is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist
who cares for patients at both Dana-Farber and Children’s Hospital. She conducts research to explore how to teach
ethics and medical professionalism to physicians.
Clare Sullivan, BSN,
MPH
Clare serves as Co-Chair of the Ethics Advisory
Committee. A cancer nurse for 24 years, she is currently the Director of
Ambulatory Nursing and Clinical Services for Women's Health and Sarcoma. She is
committed to serving both patients and staff coping with ethical dilemmas
associated with cancer care.
Contact Information
To request an ethics consult
Call the Dana-Farber ethics hotline and 24-hour confidential voice mail at 617-632-5713.
If you wish to speak to someone immediately, please call the page operator at 617-632-3352 and ask for the ethics consultant on call.