Beyond the Basics: More Ways that Ethics Consultants Can Help Patients

The primary task of ethics consultants is to work with patients—and sometimes also their families—to discern and then meet patients’ and families’ needs and wants to the extent possible. That is primarily a cognitive endeavor. Yet the feelings of patients and ethics consultants may determine what they can work together to accomplish. This article considers their feelings. It looks at sources of distrust and their hopedfor resolution, specific means to enhance patients’ decision making in their relationship with ethics consultants, and a new, highly different approach that may enhance their relationships more than most commonly used ways of relating.