Identifying and analyzing ethical issues and studying ethical reasoning in physical therapy in Israel

Ilana Silverstein, PT. University of Haifa, Israel. Identifying and analyzing ethical issues and studying ethical reasoning in physical therapy in Israel

In this study I analyzed ethical issues which were identified by Israeli physical therapists and described the ways they deal with ethical problems and dilemmas. Many related studies have been done on medical ethics but only a few on physical therapy ethics. A phenomenological qualitative approach was applied in this study, using the "grounded theory" methodology.  Physical therapists from different sets of practice were interviewed using semi-structured interview. The ethical issues raised by the interviewee are divided into three categories; a) their relationships with patients; b) situations in which physical therapists are between the patient and a third party provider, e.g. health insurance companies; and c) their relationships with physicians and physical therapy colleagues. The results indicate that physical therapists main ethical principle is "beneficence". Most of the ethical problems and dilemmas arose when physical therapists encountered difficulties in striving to fulfill this principle. Physical therapists demonstrated a wide range of ethical reasoning. Most of them did not rely on bioethical theories or principles in this process. This study is the first in-depth analysis of physical therapy ethics in a changing society and health policy.