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The Value of Place

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Rethinking Rural Health Ethics

Part of the book series: International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine ((LIME,volume 72))

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Abstract

We argue in this chapter for an explicit value of place in health ethics. Psychologists have identified that some people feel what they term place attachment. We argue that ethicists should acknowledge that some people may feel connected to and identify with a particular place which has epistemological implications and implications for a person’s standpoint – as what we know is fundamentally influenced by where we come from. Place may also sometimes be used as a means to stereotype particular patients and their likely responses and values. In this chapter we argue for a value of place to give it the necessary weight and attention in ethical deliberations around the provision of health care at the micro, meso and macro levels of service delivery. We argue that the value of place is particularly relevant for rural residents as it may influence their health care choices, their experience of receiving care and their access to health services.

The relationship between health and place is complex and requires unravelling (Wakerman 2008, 52).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioethics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Christy Simpson & Fiona McDonald

  2. Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Christy Simpson & Fiona McDonald

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  1. Christy Simpson
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  2. Fiona McDonald
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Simpson, C., McDonald, F. (2017). The Value of Place. In: Rethinking Rural Health Ethics. International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine, vol 72. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60811-2_5

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