Ethics and health public relations (2015)

The purpose of this study was to explore ethics that are unique to public health/health care (PH/HC) public relations, as the field is an increasingly politicized, collaborative, regulated, and socially mediated communication environment. Eighteen practitioners from the PH/HC industry were interviewed about ethical dilemmas and resolutions in their jobs. Traditional ethics were confirmed, and unique ethics like sustainability, cultural accountability, and compliance emerged. As many of the ethics blur together in how they address practitioners’ concerns today, the ethics were categorized according to ethics of knowledge, ethics of protection, and ethics of engagement.