Democratization of Medical Science and Citizen Participation

Abstract

We are living in a world in which medical and technological research is progressing very rapidly. The population of Quebec, like those of many industrialized North American and European nations, is undergoing major socioeconomic upheaval. For example, in the health field, for several years now there has been a marked trend towards deinstitutionalization and ambulatory care. The elderly, the sick, and the disabled are sent home to their families more from the government’s concern to reduce the costs of public health care than from a social concern for patients’ well-being. This trend raises new ethical and moral issues. On one hand, increasingly people are faced with taking responsibility for a sick or disabled family member without the necessary financial, human, or technological resources. The autonomous sick and disabled are themselves demanding, quite legitimately, the right of access to public services, the labour force, and education. All this requires that society be sensitized to and overcome prejudices, that the environment be adapted, and that ergonomically sensitive methods be used to facilitate these individuals’ functioning in society. On the other hand, the movement to prevent accident and disease is growing. People are taking ownership of their responsibility, seeking out what is best for their health and that of their family members. Thus no one really escapes the need to be informed about advances in medical science and new applied technologies in medicine and physical rehabilitation. Moreover, the growing interest in alternative medicine and neutraceuticals adds to the confusion that people feel when faced with a broad range of possibilities. People are called on to make choices without feeling properly equipped and well advised to make them.