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Evaluating the Concept of Choice in Healthcare
Zolkefli, Yusrita
Abstract
Choice is what we all want, as most would say. There is a growing cognisance that patients
can and should play an important role in deciding their own care, in defining optimal care,
and in improving healthcare delivery. Popular concepts such as patient-centred care, patient
empowerment, and patients as partners, shared decision making, and informed choice illustrate
the emancipation of patient. The paper describes that choice is not necessarily a good thing in
health care; however, that does not rebut the significance of choice. In order to support the overall
argument, the paper focuses on why patient choice is important, and in each discussion, this is
disputed with counter-arguments to demonstrate that in fact, to an extent, choice is not necessarily
a good thing in healthcare.
Keywords
choice; ethics; autonomy; healthcare; obligation
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